FAIRFAX, Va. -- Nine of the people killed in a series of bombings this week in Saudi Arabia worked for Vinnell Corporation, a company based in Fairfax County. The housing complex where Vinnell employees lived was one of three targeted by terrorists.
Of the nine Vinnell employees killed, seven are U.S. citizens and two are from the Philippines. However, Northrop Grumman officials did not say Tuesday whether any of the victims are from Fairfax County or from the Washington metro area.
The company says relatives of the victims have now been notified. Another 30 Vinnell employees were injured. Fifteen of them already have been treated and released from Saudi hospitals. One person is in serious condition.
Vinnell has its home in a non-descript brick office building in Fairfax County. It's off-limits to the general public, accessed only by a coded key.
The company has reportedly done business with Saudi Arabia since 1975, when it won a $77 million contract to train the Saudi National Guard. That contract now has grown to an $800 million deal. One thousand Vinnell employees work in Saudi Arabia as a result.
But it was the 70 who live in a Riyadh housing complex who became the latest targets of terrorism.
While there were casualties in Monday's attacks, there also was fortunate coincidence. At the time of the suicide bombing, 50 of the 70 employees were away on a training mission.
It is the second time Vinnell's operations have been the target of a terrorist attack. A 1995 car-bombing destroyed a building in the Saudi capital that was headquarters for the U.S. Army training program involving Vinnell advisers. Five Americans were killed.
More than 30,000 Americans work in Saudi Arabia. Many of them live in the type of walled-off housing complexes bombed in this latest attack.
Northrop Grumman officials say Tuesday that they are relocating between 250 and 275 Vinnell employees who lived in the targeted complex. They will be taken to an undisclosed, secure location. They also said about 20 employee relatives, including spouses and children, are being evacuated from the country.
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Of the nine Vinnell employees killed, seven are U.S. citizens and two are from the Philippines. However, Northrop Grumman officials did not say Tuesday whether any of the victims are from Fairfax County or from the Washington metro area.
The company says relatives of the victims have now been notified. Another 30 Vinnell employees were injured. Fifteen of them already have been treated and released from Saudi hospitals. One person is in serious condition.
