Forty-eight Egyptian illegal immigrants who went missing in the desert of eastern Libya at the start of the week were found by the Libyan air force on Friday, a security official said.

Dozens of Egyptians entered Libya but were abandoned on Monday by smugglers on the desert road between Tobruk and Ajdabiya.

One of the group managed to reach a town and alert the Libyan authorities, who launched a search.

"The Libyan air force on Friday morning sighted 48 of the Egyptians lost in the Libyan desert," Colonel Abdallah al-Zaidi, security forces spokesman for the eastern region of Benghazi, told AFP.

"Vehicles are being sent out to rescue them," he said.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian foreign ministry announced that two members of the group had died and dozens gone missing after crossing Libya's long and porous border.

According to the private channel Libya al-Ahrar, the group totals around 60 and also include Sudanese nationals.