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An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of a massive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people returned with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be knife injuries.

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

The eyewitness explained that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he succeeded to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until dawn.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area that separates Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who had been missing after the operation.

Residents living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me profoundly: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

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The official of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a criminal group known as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Originally, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has put the total number of people killed as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, fuel, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as criminal extremists and called the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He further explained that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The governor additionally stated that the victims displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the victims and showed footage seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse