The victims kept arriving - eyewitness describes deadly Rio police raid

The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents came back with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. The total contained security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that residents first notified him concerning the action early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he succeeded to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until the next morning.

He described that evening, community members started looking the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area organized the located casualties in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of those present.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The governor of the state stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at preventing a gang known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

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

The public legal service, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of people killed as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, but also smuggles firearms, precious metals, fuel, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the region, the government representative, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the operation has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He continued that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the bodies presented by community members in the area had been "manipulated".

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A police official representing security forces further reported that military attire, body armor, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and showed footage seemingly depicting a man stripping military attire {off a corpse