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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who observed the aftermath of a massive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by residents from the Alemão area, who contacted him alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

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

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, stated he was able to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation affected me deeply: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state declared that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting an illegal organization referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, state authorities claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the operation.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates suggests that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has calculated the overall count of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has been able to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Based on correspondent an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and becoming "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor smoking products.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and police said that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, the government representative, characterized organization participants as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the official defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He continued that the situation had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the victims shown by residents in Penha had been "tampered with".

Through a message on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official from the police department also said that military attire, vests, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a person stripping military attire {off a corpse