(CNN) -- Two German girls kidnapped last year in Yemen were released Tuesday, the German foreign ministry said, but their kidnapped brother is probably dead, a family spokesman said.
Security forces in Saudi Arabia, which neighbors Yemen, secured the release of the two hostages, the ministry said. They were both doing well and will fly home on Wednesday, it said.
The girls were among five Germans still believed to be held after their capture nearly a year ago. Germany's foreign ministry said they were working with the Saudis to secure the release of the others. But the girls' brother was probably dead, family spokesman Reinhard Poetschke told CNN.
The five Germans were part of a multinational group of nine abducted last June in Yemen. Three of the hostages -- two German nurses and a South Korean teacher -- were killed by their captors shortly after being abducted.
That left the five Germans and a Briton. The group of Germans included three children.
The British Foreign Office said Tuesday it was in close touch with Yemeni authorities about the hostages. "We remain concerned for the safety of the kidnapped British national," a spokeswoman said.
The two freed hostages, both girls, were in a hospital in the presence of German diplomats, the Saudi interior ministry said.
The Saudi interior ministry said they joined Yemeni forces in securing the release because it was a humanitarian matter involving children.
The rescue operation happened in the northern Yemeni province of Saada, where the group was abducted last year.
