Twelve migrants have been found dead in the Ionian Sea and 21 others have been rescued after their boat took in water and sank.

The deaths and sea rescues happened south-west of the Greek island of Paxos, a coastguard spokesperson said on Saturday. “The initial report is that 50 people were in the boat,” he said.

The coastguard said someone from the boat had called the 112 emergency number at 9.15am on Saturday. At least four merchant ships, six coastguard ships and a helicopter are searching for survivors amid calm seas.

The tragedy happened hours before a second boat sank in the region. Eleven migrants, including eight children, died after their boat capsized off Turkey’s western coast, state-owned Anadolu agency said.

Eight others were rescued from the sea near the town of Çeşme, on the Aegean coast, it said.

In separate incidents that illustrated other routes and methods used by Europe-bound migrants, authorities in North Macedonia said that 62 migrants were discovered hidden inside freight trains at the border with Greece.

Border control teams that included officers from North Macedonia, Austria and the Czech Republic found 42 migrants during a routine inspection of a freight train in the town of Gevgelija on Friday. Thirty-eight of the migrants were from Morocco, police said.

Later Friday, another multinational team of officers discovered 20 migrants o from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco and Algeria, in another freight train at the Gevgelija station.

All 62 migrants, including five minors, were taken to a detention centre pending deportation to Greece.