A tragic incident occurred in Brazil when a young woman lost her life after bungee jump operators allegedly forgot to secure her safety rope before pushing her off a bridge. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, fell to her death from the Ponte do Esqueleto, also known as Skeleton Bridge, in Limeira, São Paulo, on Saturday, June 13.
Details of the Incident
According to Brazilian media outlets G1 and Folha de Pernambuco, de Freitas was participating in a bungee jump when staff members carried her to the edge of the bridge and threw her over while she was wearing a helmet. A video posted on social media captured the horrifying moment. After her fall, a witness filming pointed to the rope left on the ground and shouted, “Guys, the rope!”
Witnesses told Brazil’s Military Police that de Freitas was thrown without a rope and fell approximately 40 meters (131 feet). A police helicopter was dispatched for rescue, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Victim Profile
De Freitas was a graduate in physical education and sports management. She had shared images on social media from the bridge, showing the event setup, equipment, and other participants. Among the photos was a banner for Entre Cordas, the company responsible for the bungee jump. On her Instagram Stories before the fatal fall, she allegedly joked, “Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?”
Aftermath and Arrests
Her fiancé became ill upon arriving at the scene and had to be taken to an emergency room. Six people—five men and one woman—have been arrested in connection with her death. Three were arrested at the scene and charged with homicide.
Delegate Andrea Dantas Levy told O Globo, “It was a team there that wasn’t regulated; they didn’t even have authorization to be there. They ended up organizing this event, and this fatality happened today, in my perception, due to a failure to verify and supervise the placement of the rope on the victim’s jump.”
The incident has sparked outrage and calls for stricter safety regulations in adventure sports.
