Asmara - A British embassy group of five people captured almost two weeks ago in northeast Ethiopia and released on Tuesday in Eritrea, left Asmara on Wednesday afternoon, said a diplomatic source.

The three British men and two women - one with dual British-Italian nationality and one French national - left the Eritrean capital at 15:30, the source said, requesting anonymity.

Some of them were travelling to London and others were returning to their homes in Addis Ababa, the source added.

British authorities expressed concern on Wednesday for eight missing Ethiopians captured with the embassy group in the remote northeast Ethiopian desert on March 1.