The casualties continued piling up - photographer recounts lethal Rio police raid

The eyewitness

A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has reported how community members came back with badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he explained. Many also had what he described as blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The photographer explained that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and declared: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in the area, reported he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He explained during the night, community members commenced searching the hillside that separates Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Residents living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence display the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of it all affected me profoundly: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 officers was intended to halting an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Initially, local officials claimed that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of casualties to be 132.

According to researchers, Red Command is the only criminal group that in the past few years has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "business partners".

The gang concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, gold, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that throughout the operation, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the circumstances worsened as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the casualties shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and weapons" were taken away from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse