At least 132 people were killed during a deadly police raid in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, the Rio de Janeiro public defender's office said on Wednesday, a day after the operation took place.
Mourners gathered in the streets of Rio de Janeiro near where the operation took place as bodies were laid on the road.
More than 40 dead bodies were seen on a street in Rio de Janeiro's Penha favela complex, a witness said earlier.
Rio de Janeiro state authorities said on Tuesday that at least 64 people, including four police officers, were killed in the raids. An updated death toll was shared later on Wednesday.
The bodies were brought to the street by residents who went looking for their missing relatives after the raid, according to people at the scene on Wednesday.
The police operation happened days before Rio hosts global events related to the United Nations climate summit known as COP30, including the C40 global summit of mayors tackling climate change and British Prince William's Earthshot Prize.
Police have often conducted large-scale operations against criminal groups ahead of major events in Rio, which hosted the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit and the BRICS summit in July.
‘Theatre of war’
Last year, approximately 700 people died during police operations in Rio, almost two a day. In 2020, Brazil's Supreme Court imposed restrictions on counter-drug operations in the favelas, such as limiting the use of helicopters and operations in areas near schools or health centres.
However, the same court lifted those restrictions this year.
The Human Rights Commission of the Rio State Legislative Assembly said it would demand "explanations of the circumstances of the action, which has once again transformed Rio's favelas into a theatre of war and barbarism," Congresswoman Dani Monteiro, president of the commission, told AFP.
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Source: TRT