🔗 Share this article The bodies just kept coming - eyewitness describes lethal Rio police raid The eyewitness Multiple casualties were displayed in a square in the Rio neighborhood following the deadliest police raid in the city's history An eyewitness who witnessed the consequences of an extensive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died. The casualties "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the photographer described. They included those of police officers. One individual had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma. Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen. More than 100 people were detained during the police action The eyewitness explained that he was first alerted to the raid Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted. The eyewitness went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were arriving. Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures was under way. "Law enforcement personnel formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'." However, the photographer, who was raised in the community, stated he was able to make his way into the restricted zone, where he continued until the next morning. He described that Tuesday night, community members started looking the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who had been missing after the operation. Local people living in Penha arranged the located casualties in an open area - the photographer's images show the reaction of the people there. "The violence of it all shook me profoundly: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled. The eyewitness There was shock in the neighborhood as residents recovered additional victims from the nearby hillside The official of the state announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting a criminal group referred to as Red Command from growing their influence. Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action. Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 individuals lost their lives. The public legal service, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the final tally of casualties as 132. Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has been able to expand its territory across the region. It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside First Capital Command, with a background spanning over five decades. Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city extensively, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "operational allies". The criminal group focuses mainly on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco. Based on official reports, organization members are well armed and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives. The governor of Rio state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals. Nevertheless, the total of casualties during the raid has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled". During a press briefing the next day, the state leader supported law enforcement. "It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated. He continued that the events had escalated because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members." The official also said that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated". Via a statement on social media, he asserted that some of them had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces". A police official from the police department further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the victims and displayed evidence appearing to show a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse