A 21-year-old woman died after staff allegedly forgot to attach a safety cord before she bungee jumped from a bridge in Brazil

According to People, six people are now in custody following the death of 21-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, who fell 131 feet from a bridge in Brazil. The incident took place at the Ponte do Esqueleto, commonly known as Skeleton Bridge, located in the municipality of Limeira, in the state of São Paulo. Brazil’s Civil Police are continuing to investigate the full circumstances surrounding the jump.

Reports indicate that the staff members facilitating the jump allegedly forgot to attach the safety cord to de Freitas before she went over the edge of the bridge. Video footage captured the moment staff carried her toward the edge and threw her over, even though she was wearing a helmet at the time. A witness who was filming the event noticed the rope still lying on the ground after she had already fallen and shouted, “Guys, the rope!”

De Freitas was a graduate in physical education and sports management and had purchased a guided tour specifically for the bungee jump. Before the event, she reportedly shared a post on her Instagram Stories, writing, “Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?” Her fiancé, who arrived at the location after the fall, required emergency medical care due to the distress caused by the situation.

An unauthorized team and a missing safety check led to a fatal bungee jump in São Paulo

Witnesses at the scene informed authorities from the Military Police that de Freitas had been sent over the edge without the necessary safety equipment attached. A police helicopter was dispatched to the scene for a potential rescue operation, but she was pronounced dead at the location.

Three of the six individuals who were arrested were apprehended directly at the site of the incident. Her death is among several recent cases where young people lost their lives in sudden, preventable tragedies. All six people now in custody are facing charges of homicide with implied malice, which is a legal classification used in Brazil when a person knowingly engages in a dangerous act that results in the death of another.

Delegate Andrea Dantas Levy spoke about the lack of oversight surrounding the event and the status of the team that organized the jump. “It was a team there that wasn’t regulated; they didn’t even have authorization to be there,” Delegate Levy reportedly said. “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 attorneys representing the defendants argued that the team involved is experienced and that the company has not had a fatality in years of operation. Despite this, the incident has drawn attention to the broader issue of access and oversight at the bridge site.

The mayor of Limeira, Murilo Félix, addressed this directly, stating, “It is necessary to determine responsibility for the lack of access control to a federal area that has presented known risks for years and still lacks the necessary protection measures.”

The Limeira City Council is currently filing a formal complaint against the federal government over the lack of security and access control at the Ponte do Esqueleto. The bridge has reportedly been associated with known risks for a number of years, according to Mayor Félix’s statement. Brazil’s Civil Police are continuing their investigation into the details surrounding the jump and the people responsible for organizing it.

The case has raised wider questions about the regulation of adventure tourism activities in Brazil, particularly at sites that are not formally authorized for such events. According to Delegate Levy, the team operating at the bridge that day did not have the proper authorization to conduct the jump. There have been other troubling cases where emergency responders failed to act on a victim’s distress, raising similar concerns about accountability.

The legal proceedings are ongoing, and the investigation is expected to examine both the actions of the individuals present and the broader question of who is responsible for controlling access to the federal site where the incident occurred.