🔗 Share this article The victims kept arriving - photographer recounts deadly Rio law enforcement operation Bruno Itan Multiple casualties were laid out in a public space in northern Rio following the bloodiest security action in the city's history A photographer who observed the results of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how community members returned with badly injured victims of those who had died. The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness described. They included law enforcement personnel. One individual was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma. More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city. In excess of 100 suspects were arrested during the security raid The photographer stated that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out. The eyewitness made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving. Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the security measures were occurring. "Police officers created a barrier and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'." However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning. He explained during the night, community members began to search the mountainous area that separates Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid. Community members of the Penha neighbourhood organized the discovered victims in an open area - the documented evidence show the response of the gathered crowd. "The violence of the situation impacted me deeply: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted. The photographer There was disbelief in the neighborhood as residents retrieved more and more bodies from the surrounding area The state leader of Rio state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was designed to halting a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory. Initially, local officials stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid. Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives. The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the overall count of casualties to be 132. Per investigative findings, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has succeeded to increase its control throughout Rio state. It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in the country, together with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades. Per correspondent an expert, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and becoming "commercial associates". The gang concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, gold, fuel, alcohol cigarettes. Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones. The official of the state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as brave public servants. But the number of fatalities in the security action has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified". At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement. "We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to arrest them all alive," he said. He added that the situation intensified due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they implemented and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members." The official also said that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha were "altered". Via a statement on social media, he said that particular individuals had been taken of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement". A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person stripping military attire {off a corpse