Saudi Arabia: Fire breaks out at Jeddah oil depot ahead of F1 race weekend

 A fire erupted at an oil depot in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Friday, ahead of the F1 Grand Prix race scheduled to take place there - with Yemen's Houthis rebels acknowledging that they had launched a series of attacks on the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and the state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco did not immediately acknowledge the blaze, though it appeared to be on the same fuel depot that the Houthis attacked in recent days.

The fire seems to be centred on the same North Jeddah Bulk Plant, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The North Jeddah Bulk Plant stores diesel, gasoline and jet fuel for use in Jeddah, the kingdom's second-largest city. It accounts for over a quarter of all of Saudi Arabia's supplies and is crucial to running a regional desalination plant.

The purported attack comes as Saudi Arabia continues to lead a coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels who seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, sparking a civil war that forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to seek refuge in the southern port city of Aden and then later Riyadh.

The kingdom and its allies intervened in March 2015 and have since carried out more than 22,000 air strikes in an effort to roll back the rebels, with one-third striking non-military sites - including schools, factories and hospitals, according to the Yemen Data Project.

Riyadh has been repeatedly criticised by US lawmakers for its air strikes that have killed civilians - something the Houthis point to as they launch drones, missiles and mortars into their northern neighbour.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV channel said more details would be released later about their attacks. The Iran-aligned group did not immediately claim they were behind Friday's fire in Jeddah.

The second-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah is taking place on Sunday, though concerns had been raised by some over the recent attacks targeting the kingdom.

A large black smoke cloud could be seen from the F1 track and during practice, and 2021 Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen could be heard saying, "Is my car on fire?" due to fumes from the blaze, Sky Sports reported.

The F1 said in a statement: "The position at the moment is that we are waiting for further information from the authorities on what has happened." The F1 did not elaborate.

According to UN estimates, in Yemen 377,000 will have died in the protracted conflict by the end of 2022, an estimated four million have been displaced, and 80 percent of the country's 29 million people are dependent on aid for survival.

The UN has declared it the "world's worst humanitarian crisis", as heavy artillery and air strikes have hampered access to health care and increased pressure on the few facilities that are still functioning.