“The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired,” Victor Santos, Rio state’s security chief, told a news conference. By then the raid on the Alemão and Penha favelas had killed at least 132 people, according to the public defender’s office.
That was more than double the figure cited on Tuesday, the day of the operation. Rio police officials confirmed 119 deaths, four of them officers. Governor Cláudio Castro said forensic work was still under way, that his official count was 58, and that it was “certain to change.”
Bodies in the square
Early on Wednesday, grieving residents of Penha carried bodies out of the forest and laid them side by side along a street. Brazilian media estimates ranged from at least 50 to more than 70. Reuters reported that more than 70 were lined up. Some were covered with sheets or bags.
“I just want to take my son out of here and bury him,” said Taua Brito, whose son was among the dead.
The state’s account
State police said they had planned the raid for more than two months. It was designed to drive suspects onto a forested hillside where a special operations unit waited in ambush. Police said gang members dropped explosives from drones on officers moving through the Red Command strongholds. Residents called the scenes “war-like,” with shootouts and burning buses used as barricades.
Asked about earlier remarks calling the dead “criminals,” Castro said the fighting was in the woods, not a built-up area. “I don’t believe anyone was just strolling in the woods on a day of conflict,” he said. He called the raid a fight against “narco-terrorism.” Santos said 280,000 people live in the areas where it took place, and 113 suspects were arrested.
Criticism
The U.N. human rights office said it was “horrified” and urged “prompt and effective investigations.” Civil society groups and security experts criticized the heavy casualties of what they called a military-style raid.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was “astonished,” Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said, and surprised that the federal government had not been told in advance. Lewandowski planned to meet Castro. Lula met Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and cabinet members on Wednesday.
The previous deadliest raid in the city was in 2021, when 28 people died in Jacarezinho. Operations that kill more than 20 people are “very rare” in Brazil, crime reporter Rafael Soares told BBC News Brasil, and most have happened in Rio. He said the offensive was part of Castro’s push to strike a decisive blow at crime before next year’s elections.
Sources
- At least 132 killed in Rio police raid, officials say
- Death toll from Rio police raids rises to at least 132
Sources
- At least 132 killed in Rio police raid, officials say – BBC
- News: Death toll from Rio police raids rises to at least 132
