Seven people detained in a Houthi-held Hodeida of Yemen for using recycled boxes originating in Saudi Arabia to distribute aid have been released, the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Thursday.
"We are greatly relieved by the release of our staff members and the driver," said Mutasim Hamdan, the organization's Yemen country director.
"They are in good condition, and we are pleased that they are now reunited with their families," Hamdan said in a statement.
Six staff and a contracted driver, all Yemeni citizens, were detained earlier this week by authorities in the Houthi-controlled Red Sea coastal district of Hodeida.
Local sources told AFP the employees were accused of having accepted and distributed aid from a Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent aid group based in Oslo, said it did not receive funding from Saudi Arabia for its relief operations in Yemen.
-AFP
-File photo, Hodeida