The victims kept arriving - eyewitness describes fatal Rio law enforcement operation

Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of a massive law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has reported how community members came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer described. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness explained that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who grew up in the area, explained he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a square - the photographer's images show the reaction of those present.

"The harsh reality of the situation shook me a lot: the sorrow of the families, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing an illegal organization referred to as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

At first, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to make territorial gains across the region.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, in company with another major gang, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, but also smuggles guns, precious metals, energy resources, liquor cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and referred to the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He further explained that the situation intensified as the individuals fought back: "It occurred of the retaliation they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in the area were "altered".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department also said that military attire, vests, and arms" had been removed from the victims and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse