🔗 Share this article The bodies just kept coming - eyewitness describes lethal Rio police raid The eyewitness Dozens of bodies were displayed in an open area in northern Rio following the deadliest police raid the municipality has experienced An eyewitness who witnessed the consequences of a massive law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members returned with disfigured remains of those who had died. The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. They included those of police officers. A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as blade trauma. More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation in the city. More than 100 people were arrested in connection with the security raid Bruno Itan stated that residents first notified him concerning the action early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring. The reporter made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were being brought. Itan explained that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the security measures was under way. "Police officers created a barrier and announced: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'." Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night. He reported that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid. Local people living in Penha organized the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of those present. "The violence of what occurred impacted me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled. The photographer There was disbelief in Penha as locals found increasing numbers of casualties from the nearby hillside The governor of the state declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at preventing a criminal group referred to as Red Command from growing their influence. Originally, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" lost their lives in the raid. They have since said that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured. The public legal service, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the final tally of casualties to be 132. Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to increase its control across the region. Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, together with a rival criminal group, with a background spanning over five decades. Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and becoming "operational allies". The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, valuable minerals, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco. According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that during the raid, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones. The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals. But the number of casualties in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified". During a press briefing on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions. "There was no objective to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared. He added that the events intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence by those criminals." The state leader also said that the casualties shown by residents in the area were "altered". In a post through digital channels, he claimed that some of them had been taken of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation to security forces". A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and firearms" were stripped from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse