A prisoner was killed in rioting that took place inside the Central Prison in Al-Mahra's capital Al-Ghaidha early on Sunday, the Alsahwa website reported.

Local sources were quoted as saying that the inmates inside the jail went on uprising after they had known four of their fellows had escaped including three drug convicts.

The four were said to have escaped through a hole on the wall of the Central Security adjacent to the jail.

As the inmates started their uprising, firing was heard and smoke billowed from inside the jail, the website reported, quoting a security source as saying that amid this one of the inmates died while trying to escape.

The victim was sentenced to death and had been waiting for the final verdict after his appeal against the preliminary ruling, the security source said.

In recent years, riots have been reported in prisons in several Yemeni cities, with some inmates killed and reported