The bodies of three foreign women have been found in the province of Saada in Yemen. Officials have confirmed that the bodies are those of three of the nine hostages seized last week in the mountainous northern area. Two of the dead are German, one is South Korean.

The Yemeni Interior Ministry announced that seven Germans, including three children and two female nurses, were abducted in the volatile Saada province which borders Saudi Arabia, along with a male British engineer and a South Korean teacher while on a picnic last Friday. They all belong to the Dutch-based international relief group Worldwide Services that has worked for 35 years at a hospital in Saada.

There are conflicting reports from Yemen on exactly how many bodies have been found. One unconfirmed report says that all nine hostages have been killed.
 

Photo of Saada streetlife by la imagen (Flickr)