Four members of a Greek rescue team sent to Libya after the devastating floods that hit Derna were killed in a road accident on Sunday, a Libyan minister said.

Othman Abdeljalil, health minister in the administration that runs the east of the country, told reporters they died while the team was en route from Benghazi to Derna, 300 kilometres to the east.

"The team was made up of 19 members. Four of them died and the other 15 were injured," Abdeljalil told a press conference in Derna.

"Eight are in a stable condition and the other seven are critical," he said.

The minister said the accident took place when their vehicle collided with a car carrying a Libyan family. Three people in the car died and two were seriously injured, he said.

In Athens, the Greek National Defence General Staff initially said in a statement that the rescue team's coach was in collision with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.

That statement spoke only of "minor injuries" among the team members.

But later on Sunday, state-run ERT television reported that three members of the Greek rescue team had been killed and two others were missing.

The Greek army statement said an operation to collect the personnel in Benghazi and repatriate them was underway. (AFP)