A 21-year-old woman has died after being thrown from a 40-metre bridge during a bungee-style “rope jump” in Brazil, after the company running the activity failed to attach her safety harness, with six people connected to the operation detained by police.
The victim, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, from Jandira in greater São Paulo, was taking part in the jump at the Ponte do Esqueleto, or Skeleton Bridge, trail in Limeira on Saturday morning. According to Brazilian outlet CNN Brasil, instructors carried her to the platform and launched her from the bridge without the rope that should have secured her. Footage circulating on social media captured the moment, with bystanders heard screaming “a corda” — “the rope” — as she fell.
She struck the ground below and was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple trauma, despite attempts by people nearby to perform CPR before paramedics arrived. São Paulo’s Public Security Secretariat confirmed that military police and fire crews responded to the incident from 9.55am, and that the city’s emergency medical service, SAMU, confirmed her death at the location.
According to local outlet Piranot, six people linked to the company responsible for the activity were detained following the incident, with reports indicating some were arrested on suspicion of intentional homicide. Two of those detained reportedly fled into nearby woodland after the fall but were located with the assistance of a police helicopter. The case is being investigated by Limeira’s Civil Police.
Freitas had posted photographs and video to her social media account shortly before the jump, including an image of a sign at the site warning of “danger” and “risk of death.” In one post, she wrote: “Quem foi o doido que deixou eu vir pular de uma ponte?” — “Who was the crazy one who let me come jump off a bridge?” According to CNN Brasil, she worked as a physical education professional at a gym in Jandira, which posted a tribute mourning her death. Her boyfriend, who witnessed the fall, reportedly collapsed in shock and was hospitalised.
The activity was run by companies identified in local reports as Entre Cordas and Ih Voei, which had further jump dates scheduled at the same site and in other locations across São Paulo state and Minas Gerais, charging participants around R$180 to R$210 per jump. The Ponte do Esqueleto sits on land at the boundary between Limeira and the neighbouring municipality of Cordeirópolis, in an area under federal government jurisdiction, with local reports noting that disputes over which authority is responsible for overseeing safety at the site remain before the courts.
