The victims kept arriving - photographer recounts fatal Rio police raid

The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people came back with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness described. They included security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Several bodies showed what appeared to be stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by residents from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him there was a shoot-out.

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

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement blocked media personnel from accessing the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, reported he succeeded to gain access into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He described during the night, community members commenced searching the hillside that separates the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area organized the recovered bodies in an open area - the photographer's images display the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of it all shook me deeply: the grief of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of the state declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to stopping an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" had been killed in the operation.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the final tally of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, and has a history extending half a century.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, petroleum products, alcohol smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The official of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "horrified".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He continued that the situation had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The state leader also said that the victims shown by residents in Penha had been "tampered with".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating a person stripping military attire {off a corpse