🔗 Share this article

The photographer

A reporter who witnessed the aftermath of an extensive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how community members brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. They included those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness reported that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in that neighborhood, stated he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members started looking the mountainous area that separates Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images show the response of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation affected me profoundly: the grief of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to preventing an illegal organization referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government stated that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the total number of fatalities to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has been able to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on correspondent a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, fuel, beverages smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, the government representative, described Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the events had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The governor also said that the victims displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" were stripped from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse