The victims kept arriving - reporter shares fatal Rio security action

Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the consequences of a massive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members returned with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness stated. They included security forces.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "severely damaged", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who contacted him telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were being brought.

Itan explained that security forces stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Police officers formed a line and announced: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who grew up in the area, explained he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he continued until dawn.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the photographer's images show the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region declared that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the overall count of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "works as a system" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "business partners".

The organization focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and described the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

However, the count of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked".

During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He further explained that the events intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The governor further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and weapons" were stripped from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse