The casualties continued piling up - photographer recounts lethal Rio police raid

Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness stated. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as blade trauma.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that the police blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who grew up in the area, stated he was able to make his way past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, community members started looking the mountainous area which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area organized the recovered bodies in a public space - the documented evidence show the reaction of those present.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing a criminal group known as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Originally, state authorities maintained that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has calculated the overall count of fatalities to be 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside another major gang, with a background extending half a century.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, energy resources, liquor smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of the state, the government representative, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He added that the circumstances intensified due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they executed and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The state leader also said that the casualties presented by community members in the area had been "tampered with".

Via a statement through digital channels, he asserted that some of them had been removed of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse