The bodies of three more victims removed from the favela on Friday were men with links to organised crime, according to police. A total of 24 other people and a police officer also died in the operation in the northern Rio neighbourhood of Jacarezinho.

“Intelligence confirmed that the dead were drug dealers. They fired at officers, to kill. They had orders to confront,” Civil Police chief Allan Turnowski told reporters.

The bloodbath prompted criticism from human rights groups including Amnesty International, which lambasted the police for the “reprehensible and unjustifiable” loss of life in a neighbourhood mostly populated by black and poor people.

The United Nations human rights office on Friday called for an independent investigation into the operation. UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said the police deployed a “disproportionate and unnecessary” use of force.