Scenes of destruction at Saudi oil plant hit by attacks

KHURAIS, Saudi Arabia: The dramatic weekend assault on two Saudi oil facilities saw one of the targets struck four times sparking fires that took five hours to extinguish, the national oil company said Friday. At the Khurais plant in eastern Saudi Arabia, a charred web of pipes and supports was flanked by cranes as staff assessed the extensive damage to an oil stabiliser apparatus. The US has blamed Iran for the attacks, which have been claimed by Tehran-backed Yemeni rebels, condemning them as an “act of war” which knocked out half the kingdom’s oil production. “There were more than 200 to 300 people inside the facilities,” said Fahad al-Abdulkareem, a general manager at the state-controlled Saudi Aramco oil company, as he inspected the damage.