The victims kept arriving - photographer recounts fatal Rio security action

The photographer

A photographer who documented the results of an extensive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that security forces blocked media personnel from entering the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he was able to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until dawn.

He reported during the night, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos show the reaction of those present.

"The brutality of the situation affected me a lot: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to stopping a gang called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

At first, local officials stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the final tally of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has succeeded to increase its control across the region.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and becoming "business partners".

The gang focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of the state, the government representative, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "shocked".

In a media appearance the following day, the official supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He added that the events had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader additionally stated that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force also said that military attire, vests, and arms" were stripped from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse