The bodies of 74 drowned migrants have washed ashore from the Mediterranean in Libya, aid workers have said.

Dozens of bodies were seen lined up along the shore in white and black body bags in the western city of Zawiya.

The stark and grim images were released on Twitter by the country's Red Crescent aid organisation.

The bodies will be taken to a cemetery in the capital of Tripoli allocated for unidentified persons, Red Crescent spokesman Mohammed al-Misrati said.

He told the Associated Press the bodies washed ashore on Tuesday morning and said the circumstances behind the mass drowning were not clear yet.

The deaths of migrants have risen to record levels along the Libya-Italy smuggling route across the Mediterranean Sea.