In the early hours of Wednesday, residents of the Complexo da Penha, in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro, moved more than 50 bodies to the community's São Lucas square. Civil Defense arrived at the scene early in the morning to remove the bodies.

The bodies were found in the wooded area between the Alemão and Penha complexes, where the deadliest police operation in the state's history took place.

More than 50 bodies were moved to a square in Rio de Janeiro

According to official figures, the action left at least 64 dead and 81 people detained. Among the fatalities were four police officers.

The lawyer Flávia Fróes, who was present during the removal of the bodies, stated that several corpses showed “ marks of gunshot wounds to the back of the neck, stab wounds in the back and wounds on the legs ”.

Human rights organizations and defenders requested the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to send international observers and experts to Rio.

Fróes described the police intervention as “the biggest massacre in the history of Rio de Janeiro ”.

The bodies were removed from the back of a vehicle with the help of homeless people. Among those who assisted in the removal were minors. A boy of approximately nine years old helped with the task, reported the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

One of the bodies was headless. The head was carried in a bag. Amid the commotion, one of the bystanders shouted to the relatives, “It’s the one with red hair.” The corpse’s hands were clenched, gripping grass.

The bodies, lined up in the square, were surrounded by residents of the neighborhood trying to identify their relatives and acquaintances. A woman shouted,"Murderous police, where is my son?" The mother of one of the victims, a 20-year-old, said she had found her son with his wrist tied in the wooded area.

Beside the bodies, women wept and embraced each other after identifying the dead. One of them said,"My son."

Activist Raull Santiago reported that the display of the bodies was requested by the families in order to show the conditions in which they were found. “A scene that will go down in Brazil’s horror history,” he said.

According to Santiago, the bodies found early this morning are not included in the official death toll. The state government has not yet issued a statement regarding this situation.

The streets of Rio de Janeiro were deserted

The tension lingered into the night. A woman walking her dog in Praça Varnhagen, in Tijuca, told O Globo: “It feels like Covid. Very strange.” Anyone who had visited Rio during the first weeks of the pandemic and returned in the early hours of the morning after the operation would find a similar atmosphere. The area, nicknamed “Buxixo,” usually teeming with activity, bars, and samba, remained deserted.

The bars and restaurants in the area were closed, and the usual streets of nightlife looked deserted.

On Boulevard 28 de Setembro in Vila Isabel, only two street sweepers, two recyclers, and a small bar remained. This avenue, famous for its bars associated with composers like Noel Rosa and Martinho da Vila, presented an unusual sight. Rua Teodoro da Silva, which connects several neighborhoods, was also deserted. On Largo Verdun in Grajaú, a 24-hour pharmacy closed, reflecting the lack of activity also observed in Maracanã and Avenida Rei Pelé.

The Grajaú-Jacarepaguá highway, an important link between the North and Southwest Zones, also remained closed, which drew particular attention. This road, which runs through communities under the control of the Comando Vermelho, was a target of the operation.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., the Rio Operations and Resilience Center (Cor-Rio) announced that all roads were cleared, the last being the aforementioned Grajaú-Jacarepaguá road.

In the South Zone, the early morning hours were marked by a tense atmosphere and empty streets, a consequence of restricted mobility and the early return of residents. In Praça São Salvador, in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, the usual activity was absent.

“I’m just passing through because I needed to buy something urgently at the market, but I’m in a hurry. On any other night, I’d be watching a game at a table, but tonight I’m staying home,” a neighbor explained to the local news outlet G1.

This situation was repeated in Largo do Machado, where most businesses kept their doors closed, and those that opened noticed a lower flow of customers. Luis Felipe, a waiter at a local restaurant, stated: “Today is very difficult, the streets are deserted, and the customers who do arrive stay for less time than usual.”