A 21-Year-Old Brazilian Woman Fell 130 Feet To Her Death Because Bungee Jump Workers Forgot To Attach The Safety Rope

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was 21 years old. She was a recent graduate in physical education and sports management.

She had a fiancé who came with her on Saturday to the Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, in São Paulo state, to watch her do a bungee jump organized by a private company called Entre Cordas.

In the minutes before she was carried to the edge of the bridge, she posted on Instagram, wristbands visible, the bridge behind her, the caption reading: "Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?"

Staff from Entre Cordas carried her to the edge of a plank off the side of the bridge and threw her off. The safety rope had not been attached to her body. She fell 130 feet to the ground below.

A witness watching the video on the ground spotted the bungee cord lying there and screamed: "Guys, the rope!" Emergency services responded but could do nothing. She was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple catastrophic injuries.

Her fiancé, who watched the entire thing happen, required medical attention afterward.

Six people were arrested in connection with the incident. Three were taken into custody at the scene. Two tried to flee and were tracked down by helicopter. All face homicide with implied malice charges, a charge used in Brazil when someone causes a death through reckless or grossly negligent conduct.

The company operating that day had no authorization to be at the Skeleton Bridge. The local delegate overseeing the investigation, Andrea Dantas Levy, was unambiguous about what she found. "It was a team that wasn't regulated. They didn't even have authorization to be there. 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 São Paulo Governor's Office confirmed the core failure in a statement: "According to the police report, at the time of the jump, the safety equipment was not properly fixed."

What Is The Skeleton Bridge?

The Ponte do Esqueleto, the Skeleton Bridge, is an abandoned bridge in Limeira that has become a destination for adventure tourism, including rope jumping, which is distinct from traditional bungee jumping in that the fall is typically caught by a rope tied around the jumper's body rather than by an ankle harness.

The distinction matters less than the requirement that the rope be attached before the jump occurs.

Entre Cordas, the company Maria had purchased her jump package from, was not authorized to operate adventure tourism activities at the Skeleton Bridge. The Limeira city council was not aware of the company's operations there, and the location had not been approved as a sanctioned adventure tourism site.

The company was operating in an unregulated environment at an unsanctioned location and, on Saturday morning, sent a 21-year-old woman off the edge of a bridge without completing the single most important step in the process.

Limeira's mayor, Murilo Félix, announced that the city council intends to formally raise the issue with federal authorities and push for stronger accountability at adventure tourism sites across the state.

The incident has renewed scrutiny of the oversight, or absence of it, that governs private companies offering rope jumping and bungee services across Brazil, where such activities have grown in popularity without always being accompanied by the regulatory framework that makes them safe.

The Fiancé And The Video That Spread Across Social Media

The specific horror of what happened at the Skeleton Bridge on Saturday is documented in video from multiple angles, footage that spread across social media within hours and is, by accounts from those who have seen it, deeply difficult to watch.

It shows Maria being guided to the edge by staff. It shows the moment she goes over. It shows the cord on the ground. It shows the person who noticed the cord screaming. It ends before the rest of it concludes.

Her fiancé was in that crowd. He saw what he saw. Emergency services treated him for shock at the scene.

Maria had posted on Instagram that morning with her jump wristbands visible and the bridge in the background. The caption, "Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?" reads now as something she intended as playful and self-aware, the kind of caption that captures the feeling of being about to do something thrilling that your rational mind acknowledges is a little bit crazy.

She paid a company to take her to that bridge and keep her safe while she fell and came back. The company took her to the bridge.

Six people are in custody. The charges are homicide with implied malice. The investigation is ongoing.