🔗 Share this article The casualties continued piling up - reporter shares fatal Rio security action The photographer Dozens of bodies were laid out in an open area in Penha following the most lethal operation in the city's history A reporter who witnessed the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people brought back mutilated bodies of those who had died. The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. They included those of police officers. A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Several bodies showed evidence of stab wounds. Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid in the city. More than 100 people were arrested in connection with the police action The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring. The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in. The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from entering the operation zone, where the police action were occurring. "Security forces formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'." But Itan, who was raised in the community, reported he succeeded to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained through the night. He explained during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area which divides the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid. Local people from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in a square - the documented evidence reveal the emotions of the people there. "The harsh reality of it all impacted me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled. The eyewitness There was disbelief in the community as locals retrieved more and more bodies from the surrounding area The state leader of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting a criminal group known as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory. At first, state authorities maintained that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" lost their lives during the action. They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured. The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the final tally of fatalities to be 132. Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside First Capital Command, with a background dating back more than 50 years. Per reporter Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the gang "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and serving as "business partners". The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco. Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft. The official of Rio state, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals. Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked". In a media appearance on Wednesday, the state leader defended the police force. "We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he declared. He further explained that the situation had escalated due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members." The governor further reported that the bodies presented by community members in Penha had been "tampered with". In a post on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police". Felipe Curi representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the casualties and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse