Organisers forget rope, throw 21-year-old off bridge; she dies on impact in Brazil
A 21-year-old woman was thrown from a 40-metre bridge in Brazil's São Paulo state after organisers placed a harness and helmet on her but forgot to attach the safety rope. She died at the scene.
The jump that turned fatal
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, a 21-year-old student, paid about 180 Brazilian reais for a rope-jumping experience on the Ponte do Esqueleto (Skeleton Bridge) near Limeira. The disused railway bridge rises roughly 40 metres above a canyon and has been a known, if unsafe, spot for such jumps. Organisers fitted her with a harness around her waist and thighs and put a helmet on her head. They attached carabiners to the harness but critically forgot to connect the rope itself. Three men then lifted her, carried her to the edge of the platform, and threw her into the void.
Video of the tragedy
The entire sequence was recorded on video, which rapidly circulated on social media. The footage shows the bound rope lying coiled on the bridge behind the group as the men hoist the woman and toss her over the side. Bystanders are heard screaming, 'Rope! Guys, the rope!' The victim plummeted the full 40 metres and was pronounced dead by rescuers who arrived at the scene.
Aftermath and arrests
Military police, firefighters, and SAMU emergency medical teams were called, but they could do nothing to save the woman. Her fiancé, who was present during the jump, collapsed after the fall and required hospital treatment. Police detained six people linked to the event: five men and a woman. Two of the men fled into the surrounding forest shortly after the fall; a police helicopter located them during a search of the wooded area.
Legal consequences
Investigators are examining the video as a key piece of evidence. Brazilian media report that the inquiry may reclassify the case from negligent homicide to intentional homicide with conscious risk, a more serious charge that can carry up to ten years in prison. The newspaper O Globo attempted to contact the companies named on the workers' uniforms, Entre Cordas and Ih Voei, but received no response. A full reconstruction of how the safety failure occurred is still underway.
