Somali patients arrive in Saudi Arabia to receive treatment following a deadly attack in Mogadishu

ARAB NEWS|RIYADH: A plane carrying six injured Somalis arrived at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, on Friday to receive treatment in hospitals in Saudi Arabia, authorities said.

The move comes after directives from King Salman to treat several wounded Somalis who were injured following a terrorist bombing that targeted a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, in August, killing more than 20 people.Representatives of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the Ministry of Health, and Somalia’s ambassador to the Kingdom Salim Maow Hajji received the patients upon their arrival in the capital.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the general-supervisor of KSrelief, thanked the king “for his generous directives, which represents an extension of his compassionate deeds that include providing service and assistance to all those afflicted from Arab, Islamic and friendly” countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Somali ambassador also expressed his thanks and appreciation to King Salman for his swift response, and for the skilled and organized way in which the injured were transported, noting that this embodies the depth of the relations between the two countries.

The injured Somalis also expressed their sincere gratitude to the Saudi leadership for taking care of their treatment, and for the warm reception and hospitality they have received since they arrived in the Kingdom.

Al-Shabab gunmen attacked the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on Aug. 19 with two car bomb explosions and then stormed the hotel, which took security forces 30 hours to retake the building. The attack left at least 21 people dead and 117 others wounded.