MAINZ, Germany - Two German diplomats survived a shooting attack which set their car on fire in Saudi Arabia, officials said Tuesday.
The envoys were on an “overland journey” in the east of the country – an area that has witnessed unrest between Shiite Muslims and Saudi authorities – when shots were fired.
“The vehicle of the diplomats was fired at and started to burn, but nobody was injured in the incident,” a spokeswoman for the Germany’s foreign ministry said.
A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said it could not comment on the matter, but sources in the country said the incident was being treated as a criminal matter, rather than an act of terrorism.
Dieter Haller, the German ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told NBC News: "I have every confidence in the Saudi authorities who are doing their utmost to investigate this incident and am sure that they will not rest until it is solved."
In its official travel advice for Saudi Arabia, the German foreign ministry warns of "the possibility of terror attacks."
NBC News' Lubna Hussain and Reuters contributed to this report.