A blast near the convoy of the British ambassador to Yemen early on Monday killed one person, believed to be a suicide bomber, but the envoy survived unharmed, a security source was quoted as saying by Reuters. Ambassador Tim Torlot was on his way to the embassy when the blast occurred, the security source said.
"We can confirm there was an incident this morning involving a member of embassy staff," Chantel Mortimer, a spokeswoman for the British embassy in Sanaa stated. "We are working closely with the Yemeni authorities to investigate what happened. We can confirm there were no UK or embassy member casualties," she said.
"The embassy will remain closed to members of the public," she added.
The Yemeni authorities were investigating the area of the explosion which has been cordoned off, security sources said.
Torlot, 52, became UK Ambassador to Yemen in 2007. His previous postings include deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
