SAN'A, Yemen — Kidnappers freed two Austrian hostages Saturday, three days after seizing them in northern Yemen, according to a witness and the country's official news agency.

The Austrian tourists, a man and a woman, were released in good health and were expected to return to the Yemeni capital, San'a, later Saturday, the Saba agency said, quoting an Interior Ministry official. The agency did not immediately carry a report on the release but gave the information to journalists.

A witness in the northern province of Marib told The Associated Press that he had seen the Austrians after their release. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity as he is a civil servant who not authorized to speak to the media.

The two were kidnapped Wednesday while visiting a site known as the Queen of Sheba's throne in Marib. Yemeni government officials said tribal gunmen kidnapped the pair and probably took them to an area called Abeda.

The names of the hostages were not published, but the Austrian Foreign Ministry said the captives were a man and a woman, one from Vienna and the other from the southern province of Styria.

Yemen's ambassador to Vienna, Ali Hameed Sharaf, had said Thursday he expected the Austrians to be released soon.

Tribesmen kidnap Westerners from time to time in Yemen, often to try to force concessions from the government. The hostages are usually released unharmed, but several were killed in 2000 when security forces carried out a botched raid to free them.

Two Swiss tourists were kidnapped in the same area last month but released two days later. They were kidnapped by members of the al-Jizah tribe in an apparent effort to force the government to release a brother of a kidnapper, who had been arrested on charges of stealing a car. It was not clear if the government had made any concessions in that case.