🔗 Share this article The bodies just kept coming - reporter shares fatal Rio security action Bruno Itan Numerous victims were displayed in a public space in northern Rio following the most lethal operation the municipality has experienced An eyewitness who observed the consequences of an extensive law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people brought back disfigured remains of those who had died. The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were those of police officers. One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries. More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced. More than 100 people were taken into custody during the security raid The photographer explained that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him alerting him gunfire had erupted. The eyewitness went to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in. Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the security measures was under way. "Police officers established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'." But Itan, who was raised in the area, reported he succeeded to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained through the night. He explained that evening, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid. Residents of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in a square - the photographer's images reveal the response of the people there. "The violence of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered. The photographer There was disbelief in the community as residents found more and more bodies from the surrounding area The state leader of the region declared that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to halting a criminal group known as Red Command from expanding its territory. At first, local officials maintained that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured during the action. Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 individuals lost their lives. Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the final tally of fatalities as 132. Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to make territorial gains across the region. Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century. According to reporter Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city extensively, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates". The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, but also smuggles weapons, gold, fuel, liquor smoking products. Based on official reports, organization members are well armed and police said that while the action was underway, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives. The governor of the region, the government representative, labeled organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers who died during the operation as courageous individuals. 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 "appalled". At a news conference on Wednesday, the official justified security actions. "It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We intended to detain everyone safely," he declared. He further explained that the situation intensified due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group." The state leader additionally stated that the victims presented by community members in Penha had been "tampered with". In a post through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility onto the police". A police official of Rio's civil police force further reported that tactical gear, vests, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse