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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the results of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how local people came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people lost their lives in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action in the city.

The photographer stated that residents first notified him about the operation Tuesday morning by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were arriving.

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

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

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members started looking the elevated terrain which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Community members living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - the documented evidence display the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all shook me a lot: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, women carrying children, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of the state announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to halting a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, the Rio state government maintained that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Per reporter an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "functions as a network" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, fuel, liquor and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members are well armed and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of Rio state, the political leader, described organization participants as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified".

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

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He further explained that the events intensified because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence by those criminals."

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

Through a message on social media, he claimed that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse