Brazil's Lula 'horrified' by death toll in Rio anti-gang raids: minister

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is "horrified" by the death toll from a massive police raid on Rio drug gangs, which left scores dead, one of his ministers said on Wednesday.

"The president is horrified by the number of fatal incidents and was surprised that an operation of this scale was set up without the knowledge of the federal government," Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said of the raid on Tuesday.

The Rio de Janeiro state public defender's office said earlier at least 132 people were killed in the deadliest police operation in Rio's history.

State police in their latest update reported that 119 people had been killed, including 115 "narcoterrorists" and four officers.