A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has told the BBC of how residents came back with mutilated bodies of those who had died.
The bodies kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45..., Bruno Itan told BBC Brasil. They included those of police officers.
One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were totally disfigured, he said. Many also had what he says were stab wounds.
More than 120 people were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid in the city.
Bruno Itan told BBC Brasil that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.
The photographer made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving. Itan says that the police stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighbourhood, where the operation was under way...
The governor of Rio state said that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping a criminal group known as Comando Vermelho (Red Command) from expanding its territory. Initially, the Rio state government maintained that 60 suspects and four police officers had been killed in the operation. They have since said that their preliminary count shows that 117 suspects have been killed...
The situation continues to raise ethical concerns over the use of force by police, the integrity of the operations, and the subsequent handling of the deceased by authorities, which has prompted calls for accountability.
