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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the consequences of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One individual was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had what appeared to be knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

The eyewitness explained that he was first alerted concerning the action early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and declared: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he managed to make his way into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the located casualties in a square - the documented evidence display the emotions of those present.

"The harsh reality of it all shook me a lot: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, expectant spouses, crying, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region declared that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was intended to halting a gang known as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Originally, state authorities stated that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the overall count of people killed as 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has been able to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, in company with First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

According to Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, the gang "works as a system" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, but also smuggles firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members have substantial firearms and police said that during the raid, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and called the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the state leader justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He continued that the circumstances intensified as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The governor also said that the victims displayed by locals in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse