21-year-old woman dies from rope jump after staff ‘forget to attach safety cord’

Police are investigating whether negligence led to the death of Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas

A 21-year-old woman fell to her death from a bridge in Brazil after staff overseeing her rope jump launched her over the edge without attaching a safety rope.

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas died at the Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned railway bridge in Limeira, São Paulo, after workers launched her from a 130ft drop in a “Superman” pose.

Her fiancé reportedly witnessed what happened and was overwhelmed by shock at the scene.

Footage of the moments before the fall showed two members of staff carrying Ms Rodrigues de Freitas horizontally by her arms and legs towards the edge, apparently unaware that her harness had not been connected to the main rope.

As she was released, voices could be heard shouting: “The rope, people, the rope.” The camera then moved to show a safety line lying on the platform.

Firefighters and paramedics were called, with witnesses reportedly trying to revive Ms Rodrigues de Freitas before paramedics arrived. She was pronounced dead from multiple injuries at the scene.

Unlike a bungee jump, which uses an elastic cord that rebounds, a rope jump typically involves leaping from a high platform while attached to non-elastic safety system. Participants experience a free-fall before the safety rope catches, allowing the person to swing through the air.

But employees had forgotten to connect the safety equipment before Ms Rodrigues de Freitas jumped, witnesses told military police.

Six people were taken to Limeira’s 2nd Police District, with three men reportedly arrested at the scene on suspicion of homicide. Police said the operators may have knowingly exposed Ms Rodrigues de Freitas to a fatal risk.

Brazilian media said two people had tried to flee into nearby woodland after her fall, but were captured with the help of a police helicopter.

Andrea Dantas Levy, a civil police delegate, said the bungee group was operating without proper permission, telling Brazilian media: “It was a team there that wasn’t regulated. They didn’t even have authorisation to be there.”

Defence lawyers for those arrested said the instructors were experienced and that this was the first fatal incident involving the company in years, according to local reports.

The jump appeared to involve Entre Cordas, the main rope-jump operator, and Ih Voei, a linked instructor brand. Brazilian reports said staff at the scene were wearing shirts bearing the names of both brands.

Neither organisation had issued a public statement by Saturday night, while Entre Cordas’ Instagram page, which had more than 80,000 followers and advertised “a jump to the extraordinary”, was reportedly taken down after the tragedy.

Ms Rodrigues de Freitas, from Jandira in metropolitan São Paulo, was a physical education professional and worked at a gym, which later posted a message of mourning.

She had posted excitedly about her trip only hours earlier, sharing pictures of the venue, her identification bracelets and the operators.

The Ponte do Esqueleto, or Skeleton Bridge, was built for a railway that never properly operated, and the structure has been abandoned for decades. It belonged to Brazil’s former federal railway network and is in the process of being transferred into federal property, according to the city.

Limeira city hall said it would sue Brazil’s federal government, claiming it had warned for months about dangerous access to the bridge and its unauthorised use for extreme sports.

Murilo Félix, the mayor, said the municipality had been raising concerns with the federal government since last year and that the death of Ms Rodrigues de Freitas made the alleged inaction “unsustainable and unacceptable”.

“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,” he added.

Police are investigating whether negligence led to the death of Ms Rodrigues de Freitas.