Brazil Rope Jump Death

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, died after plunging more than 130 feet from the Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned bridge in Limeira, São Paulo state, during a rope- or bungee-jumping outing with her fiancé. Brazilian authorities say she was pushed or thrown from the bridge before being attached to required safety equipment, and a police investigator said she was not secured to any rope when she fell. Three instructors — Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, Vitor de Freitas Goncalves and Maicon Fernandes Cintra — were arrested and charged with homicide with eventual intent after the fatal jump. Witness accounts, including from an off-duty nurse who said de Freitas was still alive immediately after the fall, and comments from her grieving mother and local officials have intensified scrutiny of the unlicensed extreme-sports operation.