The bodies just kept coming - eyewitness describes lethal Rio law enforcement operation

Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how community members returned with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim was discovered headless - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed evidence of knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Security forces formed a line and said: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, stated he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants started looking the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in an open area - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the people there.

"The harsh reality of the situation shook me deeply: the pain of the families, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of the region stated that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing an illegal organization known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has calculated the overall count of people killed at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per reporter Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio over many years, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The organization engages primarily in narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, alcohol smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the state, the government representative, characterized gang affiliates as criminal extremists and called the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

However, the count of people killed in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

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

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He added that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The official additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official representing security forces further reported that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the casualties and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse