The bodies just kept coming - reporter shares deadly Rio security action

Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how local people returned with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the photographer reported. They included security forces.

A particular victim was discovered headless - others were "completely mutilated", he explained. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the casualties were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of the situation affected me deeply: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The official of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was intended to halting a gang known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, state authorities maintained that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" had been killed in the operation.

They have since said that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to the poor, has estimated the overall count of people killed as 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Based on correspondent a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that during the raid, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

But the number of casualties during the raid has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled".

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

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the situation worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he said that particular individuals had been stripped of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" were taken away from the victims and presented video apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse