🔗 Share this article The victims kept arriving - eyewitness describes lethal Rio police raid Bruno Itan Numerous victims were arranged in a public space in northern Rio in the wake of the deadliest police raid the municipality has experienced A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has reported how local people came back with badly injured victims of the deceased individuals. The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the photographer reported. They included law enforcement personnel. One individual had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds. Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen. In excess of 100 suspects were detained in connection with the operation The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring. The photographer traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought. Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action was under way. "Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and announced: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'." Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed until dawn. He described during the night, local residents started looking the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for following the security action. Community members of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of the gathered crowd. "The brutality of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled. The photographer There was disbelief in the community as community members found increasing numbers of casualties from the nearby hillside The state leader of the state stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting a gang called the criminal faction from expanding its territory. At first, local officials stated that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the raid. Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals were fatally injured. The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has estimated the final tally of people killed at 132. Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has succeeded to increase its control throughout Rio state. It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside First Capital Command, with a background dating back more than 50 years. Per reporter a specialist, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio extensively, the gang "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates". The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes. Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft. The official of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as "heroes". However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled". During a press briefing the following day, the official defended the police force. "We did not plan to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared. He continued that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group." The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with". In a post on online platforms, he said that some of them had been stripped of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement". A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that "camouflage clothing, vests, and arms" were stripped from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse