A 21-year-old woman fell to her death after rope jumping staff allegedly forgot to connect a security cord before the instructors threw her from a bridge in Brazil.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, was thrown from the Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned bridge within the municipality of Limeira, São Paulo, on Saturday, in response to The Associated Press.
The girl seemed to be launched from the bridge airplane-style, with two instructors hoisting her above their shoulders as she unfolded her arms.
Footage shared online shows two men launching Freitas right into a 40-metre abyss, allegedly without attaching her to any security equipment, as people across the group screamed on the instructors to connect her to the cord.
The instructors are wearing harnesses that look like attached to a security rope.
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A police helicopter was called for rescue, but Freitas died on the scene, according to Brazilian outlet G1.
Police in Brazil have arrested three men who worked for the corporate offering rope jumps over the young woman’s death, The Associated Press reports.
Officials have also initiated an investigation that would reportedly result in murder charges.
The City Hall of Limeira announced that it is going to sue the federal government following Freitas’ death on the bridge, referred to as the Skeleton Bridge.
“Because the starting of 2025, the municipal administration had been adopting administrative measures and demanding motion from the federal bodies answerable for the world,” the City Hall of Limeira said in a press release. “The tragedy this Saturday (13), which resulted within the death of a 21-year-old woman, makes the continuation of this omission unsustainable and unacceptable.”
The City Hall of Limeira said that the responsibility for the inspection, maintenance and access control of the Skeleton Bridge lies exclusively with the federal government.
“Beyond the circumstances that led to the young woman’s death, it’s mandatory to analyze the responsibility for the shortage of access control to a federal area that, for years, has presented known risks and continues without the mandatory protection measures. Town hall and the town council have been demanding motion for months in order that the federal government assumes its responsibility,” Mayor Murilo Félix said.
“Unfortunately, the federal government’s omission has just resulted in yet one more tragedy in Limeira,” Félix added.
Rope jumping is an extreme sport that differs from bungee jumping within the style of cord used and the resulting motion of the autumn. Bungee jumping uses elastic rubber cords that create a vertical, bouncing effect, whereas rope jumping uses low-stretch climbing ropes that convert the autumn right into a horizontal, pendulum swing.
In 2023, a tourist visiting an adventure park in Thailand faced a near-death experience while bungee jumping because the bungee cord snapped through the descent.
Footage of the incident shows the person in free fall when the bungee cord wrapped around his feet snaps, mere milliseconds before the top of the descent. The person’s body slammed into the water below at high speed.
He was capable of swim back to the surface but his ankles were still sure together by what remained of the bungee cord.
Staff from the park helped the person out of the water and he was rushed to an area hospital.
—with files from The Associated Press
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