🔗 Share this article The casualties continued piling up - photographer recounts lethal Rio security action The eyewitness Numerous victims were laid out in an open area in the Rio neighborhood after the deadliest police raid the municipality has experienced A photographer who witnessed the consequences of a massive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has reported how community members brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals. The bodies "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan described. The total contained those of police officers. One individual was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be knife injuries. More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid in the city. In excess of 100 suspects were taken into custody in connection with the police action The photographer explained that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by community members living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him an armed confrontation was occurring. The eyewitness made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were coming in. The photographer stated that law enforcement blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures was under way. "Police officers formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'." Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in that neighborhood, reported he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night. He explained that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the hillside that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid. Community members living in Penha organized the recovered bodies in an open area - the photographer's images reveal the response of the gathered crowd. "The harsh reality of what occurred affected me a lot: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled. Bruno Itan There was disbelief in the community as community members found more and more bodies from the surrounding area The governor of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control. Originally, state authorities stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives in the operation. Authorities later reported that initial estimates suggests that 117 individuals were fatally injured. The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the total number of casualties at 132. Based on expert analysis, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has been able to expand its territory across the region. Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, in company with another major gang, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades. Per correspondent an expert, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and becoming "business partners". The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, gold, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco. According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft. The governor of the region, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as "heroes". However, the count of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified". During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force. "There was no objective to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated. He further explained that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group." The state leader further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered". Through a message on social media, he said that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces". Felipe Curi from the police department further reported that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse