The casualties continued piling up - reporter shares lethal Rio security action

The photographer

A reporter who documented the consequences of a massive law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people brought back mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness described. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim was discovered headless - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The photographer reported that he initially learned about the operation early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that the police blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he was able to make his way past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the hillside that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of it all shook me a lot: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting a gang referred to as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the overall count of people killed as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that recently has succeeded to increase its control across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, the gang "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the region, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

But the number of people killed in the security action has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "appalled".

During a press briefing the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

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

He added that the situation worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A law enforcement representative from the police department additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" were stripped from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse