In a tragedy of Shakespearean magnitude, two young Yemeni lovers took their own lives on Thursday in order to spend eternity together over their families objections.

The story from the Western Hajja Province temporarily eclipsed political news in impoverished, unrest-ridden Yemen.

According to interior ministry officials a young man, 20, and his serious girlfriend, 18, had fallen in love and desired to marry - but their families were at loggerheads and forbade the match.

The frustrated couple reportedly fled together to an undisclosed location and took poison, ending their lives in each other's arms.

Police said that they found the star-crossed lovers dead and returned their bodies to the proverbial Montagues and Capulets for burial.