🔗 Share this article The bodies just kept coming - reporter shares lethal Rio security action The photographer Multiple casualties were laid out in a square in northern Rio following the bloodiest security action the municipality has experienced A photographer who observed the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members returned with badly injured victims of those who had died. The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were security forces. One of the bodies was discovered headless - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds. Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation in the city. More than 100 people were arrested during the operation The photographer reported that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring. The photographer went to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving. Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from accessing the operation zone, where the police action were occurring. "Security forces established a perimeter and announced: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'." But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he remained until the next morning. He described that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action. Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the located casualties in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of the people there. "The violence of the situation shook me deeply: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled. The photographer There was disbelief in the neighborhood as locals recovered increasing numbers of casualties from the surrounding area The state leader of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was aimed at preventing an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from growing their influence. Initially, state authorities maintained that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed during the action. Authorities later reported that early calculations suggests 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 casualties at 132. According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has managed to increase its control across the region. Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, together with First Capital Command, with a background dating back more than 50 years. Based on reporter an expert, who has been covering crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners". The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes. Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives. The official of Rio state, the government representative, described organization participants as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes". Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the operation has received condemnation from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified". At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions. "There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared. He continued that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response by those criminals." The state leader additionally stated that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha had been "tampered with". Through a message through digital channels, he asserted that some of them had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces". Felipe Curi from the police department further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse