Sana'a, Yemen  - A group of South Korean tourists departed Sana'a on Monday to return to Seoul, including survivors of an apparent bomb attack that killed four of their fellow tourists and a Yemeni guide near a historical site in south-eastern Yemen on Sunday.

Nine women and three men departed on an Emirates flight at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) to Dubai, from where they will continue to Seoul.

Among the departing survivors were two wounded women dressed in hospital uniforms, one of them sitting in a wheelchair.

South Korean diplomats and Yemeni travel agents were at the airport to witness the survivors' departure.

An official security source said four South Korean tourists, including two women, were killed after an explosive device went off as a three-car tourist convoy was touring a mountain overlooking the historical city of Shibam in the Hadhramout province, around 900 kilometres from Sana'a.

Five South Koreans and three Yemenis were injured, the source said in a statement carried by the official Saba news agency late on Sunday.

The statement said authorities were still investigating the nature of the blast.

Hadhramout is one of the strongholds for al-Qaeda in Yemen, and was the scene of a shooting attack on a Belgian tourist convoy in January 2008, in which two female Belgian tourists and three Yemeni drivers were killed.

The Yemeni Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that a Saudi Arabian man on a Saudi government list of 85 wanted militants was arrested in the southern Yemeni province of Taiz.

The ministry said in a statement that "Police forces managed to capture the terrorist Abdullah Abdul-Rahman Muhammad al-Harbi, a Saudi national and a member of the al-Qaeda organization."

Separately, the ministry said a leading Yemeni member of al-Qaeda, identified as al-Khadhir al-Jadib, had surrendered to police in the southern province of Abyan. (dpa)