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The eyewitness

A photographer who witnessed the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has described how local people brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from accessing the operation zone, where the police action were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and declared: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, stated he was able to make his way into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area that separates Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images reveal the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of it all impacted me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of the state stated that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 officers was designed to halting a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

At first, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to the poor, has estimated the final tally of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization is the only criminal group which in recent years has succeeded to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "business partners".

The organization concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, Cláudio Castro, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

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

In a media appearance the next day, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He continued that the events worsened as the individuals had retaliated: "It resulted of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he said that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating a person stripping military attire {off a corpse