Woman Killed in Brazil Bungee Jump After Safety Rope Was Not Attached

A 21-year-old Brazilian student died in a bungee-jumping accident over the weekend at the so-called Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, in São Paulo state, after staff allegedly launched her without attaching the cord. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, who studied physical education and sports management, had come to the site with her fiancé for an extreme-sports outing and fell about 40 meters to her death.

Hours before the jump, de Freitas posted an Instagram story joking, “Who is the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?” The clip from the scene, which spread quickly on social media, shows two workers holding her, one by the legs and one by the upper body in a Superman-like position, and then throwing her off the edge while the rope appears to remain behind them.

A nurse named Raiza Dias, who happened to be at the site, said she rushed down the steep, muddy slope to try to save the young woman. “I hurt my whole hand because there is a steep descent and only one rope you can hold on to,” she said. “Everything was covered in mud, but I kept going all the way down.” When she reached the bottom, Dias found that de Freitas was still alive for several minutes after the fall. She recalled telling her, “Duda, nobody dies on my shift,” though she was not actually working there.

Emergency crews later pronounced de Freitas dead at the scene and transferred her body to the forensic institute for further examination. Brazilian police have opened a broad investigation and said the company running the stunt had no permit to operate there. Three operators are now accused of manslaughter, while three other workers were detained and later released without charges. Defense lawyers said the workers were experienced, but could not explain why essential safety checks were not carried out. Two suspects tried to flee into nearby woods, prompting a police search from the air before they were found, arrested, and taken for questioning.