Difficulties of the aftermath

Jamie Gordon has just been identified as one of those who died in the the T avistock Square bus bomb. (Please click today's title for the BBC's account of Jamie.)

Please keep his family, fiancée, and friends in your prayers.

The forensics teams and those workers who are labouring to recover and identify victims also need our continued prayers. They have been battling tremendous heat down in the tunnels, especially in the Picadilly Line Tube, not to mention gruesome work conditions. Families who are waiting to learn the fate of their missing loved ones have come from all over to stand vigil. Several families have flown into London from other countries.

Many of these families want to honour their religious beliefs that dictate immediate burial after death. But in atrocities such as this, it is not something so easily honoured, as authorities must be extremely careful and sure the victims are identified correctly.

British authorities, experienced in handling these delicate matters, learned the hard way with the TWA plane explosion over Lockerbie. One of the victim's families, in the throes of grief and anxious to bury their daughter, made a quick visual identification. The body was sent to the US, only to sadly reveal that the wrong victim had been sent home for burial. The situation and ensuing mistake made a sad event worse for more people than intended.

Sometimes after a tragedy has happened, the rest of us can carry on with our lives and try to 'get back to normal'. We forget about all those teams of caring people who have to witness and work on the accident site or crime scene for a time longer than the media is willing to report on. They are under tremendous pressure from many sides, trying to put all the vital pieces of information together so that those who are grieving can eventually carry on with the mourning process. The circumstances of their work are not as comfortable as our living rooms or dining tables, which most of us return to hours after a heinous incident has occurred.

Their work continues until the aftermath comes to a full stop.

And as for mourning, it never really comes to a full stop.