🔗 Share this article

Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in.

Itan explained that the police prevented journalists from entering the affected area, where the operation were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he was able to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained during the night, community members began to search the mountainous area that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the discovered victims in a square - the documented evidence display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred impacted me a lot: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 officers was aimed at preventing a gang called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that sixty individuals along with four officers" lost their lives during the action.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the overall count of fatalities to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has been able to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, in company with First Capital Command, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on correspondent a specialist, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "business partners".

The organization concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified".

In a media appearance the next day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He further explained that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the casualties presented by community members in the area were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that particular individuals had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video appearing to show an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse