U.S. President George W. Bush ordered federal officials on Friday to review issues raised by the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech on Monday that killed 33 people, including the gunman.

In a radio address released by the White House, Bush said he had asked top officials at the Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services to provide assistance to Virginia Tech, a state university located in Blacksburg, southwest Virginia.

He also asked the officials to "participate in a review of the broader questions raised by this tragedy."

Bush said he had directed these officials to travel to communities across the country, to meet with educators, mental health experts, and state and local officials.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt would "summarize what they learn and report back to me with recommendations about how we can help to avoid such tragedies," he said.

Cho Seung-Hui, a Virginia Tech senior majoring in English, shot 32 teachers and students to death Monday morning before killing himself, in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history.

On Thursday, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine appointed an independent panel to investigate the shooting rampage.

The group would investigate the shootings, the authorities' responses to the first shooting spree that killed two persons at a dormitory room and the second that killed 30 others at an academic building, and the gunman's dealings with the mental health system.

Source: Xinhua