The deadliest police operation in Brazil's history has killed at least 132 people, officials say after Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses collected overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city.

The tally from the Rio public defender's office was more than double the death toll released on Tuesday, when state authorities reported at least 64 dead including four police officers.

The raids were targeting a major drug gang, the state government said.

Rio governor Claudio Castro said the initial tally had only counted bodies processed in the public morgue.

Penha residents who went looking for lost relatives had collected many of the corpses from a forested area behind their neighbourhood, according to people at the scene, where more than 70 of the

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