Woman thrown to her death off bridge as bungee jump staff ‘forget’ to attach rope

A woman in Brazil was thrown to her death from a bridge after bungee jump staff forgot to attach a rope to her harness. The sickening video, which circulated widely on social media over the weekend, shows the woman being held above the heads of two men before being launched off of a platform.

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, fell around 130 feet to her death in front of horrified travellers and thrill seekers. Bystanders could be heard shouting “the rope, people, the rope,” as the situation became clear in the seconds leading up to her fall. Six people were arrested in total after the incident, with two having fled into nearby woodland before being located by a police helicopter.

According to local media outlet G1, three people were charged with homicide with implied malice.

Chillingly, Rodrigues de Freitas posted an Instagram picture in the lead up to the jump in which she showed her wristband and the bridge which was to prove to be the scene to the tragedy.

The post was captioned: “Who was the crazy person who let me come jump off a bridge?”

Rodrigues de Freitas was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders before taking her body away for further investigation.

One person who witnessed the incident described the panic amongst bystanders in the seconds and minutes following the fall.

Higor Diniz told EPTV: “There were a lot of people there – not just a few. There were many people at the site. There were children there too, and they saw it happen,’ he told the outlet.

“Some of the children were only six years old. It was a very intense scene. People panicked. Some who were farther back grabbed their belongings and started leaving.”

Delegate Andrea Dantas Levy told O Globo that the company behind the bungee jump had no authorisation to be there.

She 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.”

Lawyers acting on behalf of those arrested say that those overseeing the jump were very experienced and that this was the first fatality in years.

They were however unable to offer a reason as to why no rope was attached and no safety checks were conducted prior to the jump.

A relative of Rodrigues de Freitas posted a tribute on social media describing the recent graduate as “princess.”

They wrote on Instagram: “Until now I don’t believe it, I love you so much I’ll never forget you from our jokes, [I’ll] always remember you. I love you so much princess.”