🔗 Share this article The casualties continued piling up - photographer recounts deadly Rio law enforcement operation The photographer Multiple casualties were laid out in a public space in Penha after the most lethal operation in the city's history An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals. The victims "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included those of police officers. A particular victim had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as blade trauma. More than 120 people were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced. More than 100 people were arrested during the police action The photographer explained that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who reached out alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring. The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the casualties were being brought. The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were occurring. "Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'The press doesn't get past here'." But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, stated he was able to enter past the security perimeter, where he stayed until dawn. He reported that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid. Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in an open area - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the gathered crowd. "The harsh reality of it all affected me a lot: the pain of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the photographer recalled. The eyewitness There was disbelief in Penha as residents recovered increasing numbers of casualties from the nearby hillside The official of the state announced that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to halting an illegal organization known as Red Command from growing their influence. Originally, state authorities stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid. Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured. The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of casualties as 132. Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to expand its territory across the region. It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background spanning over five decades. According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "business partners". The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking firearms, gold, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco. According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives. The official of the state, the political leader, described gang affiliates as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes". However, the count 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 "shocked". During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions. "It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We intended to arrest them all alive," he declared. He continued that the events worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members." The state leader additionally stated that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered". Via a statement on online platforms, he said that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation onto the police". A police official of Rio's civil police force further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse