United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said yesterday (09) that "a team, which includes UN representatives in Mozambique, has been sent to the area to work on a primary assessment and support the response efforts of the national authorities".

Speaking in New York at the organization's daily briefing, Dujarric said that the UN "reiterates its willingness to support the government in its response to disasters."

In a statement quoted by VOAThe United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Mozambique, Catherine Sozi, said she was "deeply saddened by the deaths of the victims of the shipwreck, many of them children".

The Mozambican authorities also announced yesterday that they had set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of the shipwreck and find ways to avoid similar situations.

After the session of the Council of Ministers, the spokesman, Filimão Suaze, said that the government was grateful for the solidarity "and calls on family members, neighbors and the population in general to continue to provide support, whenever necessary and under the conditions possible."

The boat that sank on Sunday (07) and claimed 98 lives on the island of Mozambique had the capacity to carry 13 people, but at the time of the incident there were 130 on board.

The victims of the shipwreck were fleeing from Lunga to the island of Mozambique following a rumor of an outbreak of cholera and malaria.