Two South Africans are among five people who were killed in an accidental explosion in Yemen while transporting mines and explosives to be destroyed, their employer said on Monday.

The MASAM Demining Project said the demining specialists - two South Africans, a Croatian, a Bosnian and a Kosovar - were killed on Sunday while transporting the material in the central Marib province to a remote location where it could be safely detonated.

It said a British national was wounded.

The project, part of the Saudi King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, began in 2018 and seeks to remove unexploded ordnance from Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war with Iran-aligned Houthi rebels since 2015.

MASAM says the experts "lost their lives while attempting to bring safety and security to the Yemeni people, and their service to mankind will not be forgotten."

AFP.