Yemeni security authorities on Saturday arrested 19 prisoners who escaped along with 10 others on Friday from a central jail in northern Amran province after the group killed a prison guard, the country's Defense Ministry said.

The ministry cited Brigadier Abdullah Dbwan, the security head of Amran province, as saying that police are questioning the arrested prisoners to probe the circumstances of the breakout which happened with the connivance of the prison warden and some other prison guards.

A security campaign was underway to search for the other 10 fugitives, most of whom had been sentenced to death, Dbwan said.

Duwan said the prison warden was still at large and security authorities are chasing him.

On Friday, a provincial security official told Xinhua that prison break occurred after the prisoners bribed some of the prison guards.

Yemen has witnessed weeks-long anti-government protests demanding an immediate end to the 33-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The political crisis recently resulted in deterioration of security and stability after the government pulled the police out from some towns of major provinces under pretext of avoiding friction with protesters.