First Students Are Buried As Us Mourns Virginia Tech Victims

America began to bury its dead yesterday from the Virginia Tech massacre that cost 33 lives - the worst mass-shooting in the country's modern history.

Three funerals of students killed by Cho Seung-hui were taking place last week. It was a tragedy that made headlines around the world and deeply shocked America. Among those being buried were Austin Michelle Cloyd, 19, the daughter of a Virginia Tech lecturer. She was being buried in Blacksburg, the tiny campus town tucked away in the Blue Ridge mountains of southern Virginia. Elsewhere, Jarrett Lee Lane, 22, was being buried in his home town of Narrows nearby, and Minal Panchal, 26, an Indian-born post-graduate student, was being buried in Odenton, Maryland.

The funerals end a week of mourning and regret over the killings. Services are being held all over the country in victims' home towns and are likely go on well into next week. They come after a day of remembrance on Friday that saw a moment of silence observed across the nations. Across Virginia, many people have been wearing the college colours of maroon and orange.

Police continue to investigate the shootings, seeking to find out how Cho, 23, carried out the murders. 'The why and the how are the crux of the investigation. The why may never be determined,' Virginia state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

Cho carried out the attack in two assaults. The first killed two students in a dormitory hall and was followed by a pause of several hours before he rampaged through a lecture building, eventually killing 30 more.

The investigation is focused on the first killings to see if there was any link between Cho and Emily Hilscher, 19, believed to have been the first person shot.

The Cho family expressed its sorrow: '[The family will] do whatever we can to help authorities understand why these senseless acts happened. We have many unanswered questions as well,' it said.