Wearing Ihram, Bangladeshi mufti killed in Riyadh airport attack before reaching Mecca
Nasrullah was travelling with 45 Bangladeshis when deadly attack struck the airport
Dubai: A 35-year-old Bangladeshi Islamic scholar was killed in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh while travelling to perform Umrah, leaving behind three young children.
Nasrullah Al Badr, a mufti from Bangladesh, was among a group of 45 people who had travelled to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage when the airport came under attack on Saturday.
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Al Badr was reportedly wearing Ihram, the traditional garments worn by Muslim pilgrims, when the attack took place.
He leaves behind three children, the eldest aged seven and the youngest just two.
A video widely circulated on social media purportedly shows the scholar inside the airport moments before the deadly explosion, which sent flames and thick smoke through part of the passenger terminal.
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Sunday that 12 people, including four Saudi citizens and eight foreign residents, had been killed and 309 others injured.
The reported death toll later rose to 13 after the Indian Embassy in Riyadh announced that one of its nationals had died from injuries sustained in the attack.
Maj. Gen. Turki Al Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government, accused the Houthis of carrying out the strike, calling it a "full-fledged war crime".
He said the coalition's Joint Forces Command would respond firmly and in accordance with international humanitarian law.
