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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who witnessed the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how residents returned with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

The eyewitness stated that he initially learned about the operation early on Tuesday by residents living in Alemão, who reached out telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer went to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces established a perimeter and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who was raised in the area, stated he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a public space - the photographer's images reveal the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of the situation impacted me profoundly: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The official of the region declared that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 officers was designed to preventing a criminal group referred to as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has calculated the total number of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, in company with another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Based on Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, fuel, beverages smoking products.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the region, the political leader, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities stating they were "horrified".

During a press briefing the next day, the state leader justified security actions.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He continued that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the victims presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Via a statement on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official representing security forces also said that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person stripping military attire {off a corpse