The bodies just kept coming - reporter shares deadly Rio police raid

The photographer

A reporter who observed the consequences of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had evidence of blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who reached out informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness went to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that the police stopped members of the press from entering the operation zone, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and declared: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, stated he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in an open area - and Itan's photos show the response of those present.

"The violence of the situation affected me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, sobbing, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region announced that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping a gang known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, local officials claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, in company with a rival criminal group, with a background spanning over five decades.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "operational allies".

The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, energy resources, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the region, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of casualties in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities stating they were "appalled".

In a media appearance the following day, the state leader justified security actions.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He added that the events had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces".

Felipe Curi from the police department further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the victims and presented video appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse