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The photographer

A reporter who observed the aftermath of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who contacted him alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, reported he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation affected me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to stopping an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

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

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to the poor, has estimated the overall count of casualties as 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Based on correspondent an expert, who has long reported on crime in Rio for years, the gang "works as a system" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, gold, fuel, liquor cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the events had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

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

In a post through digital channels, he said that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse