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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who witnessed the consequences of an extensive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. They included those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

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

The eyewitness explained that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer went to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in.

The photographer stated that security forces prevented journalists from going into the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces formed a line and said: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the elevated terrain which divides the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in a square - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of those present.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me deeply: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The governor of the state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was intended to stopping a criminal group called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

At first, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the overall count of fatalities at 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, in company with another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the gang "works as a system" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, gold, fuel, liquor smoking products.

According to the authorities, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

But the number of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement.

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

He added that the events intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area were "altered".

In a post on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been stripped of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A police official from the police department further reported that tactical gear, body armor, and weapons" had been removed from the bodies and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a man stripping military attire {off a corpse