A 21-year-old model posted a chilling message on Instagram minutes before she was thrown from a bridge without a safety cord and plunged 130 feet to her death. “Who was the crazy person who let me come jump off a bridge???” wrote Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, sharing a picture of the bungee jump operator’s banner.
The fatal incident took place on Saturday at the ‘Skeleton Bridge’ in Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil. Footage circulating on social media shows Maria being carried horizontally by her arms and legs in a ‘Superman’ pose at the top of the abandoned railway bridge. Two male workers appear unaware that she is not connected to the main rope. As she is hurled off, instructors look down as the camera pans to show the safety line still lying on the platform. Witnesses can be heard screaming: “The rope people, the rope.”
“Model posted 'Who was the crazy person who let me jump?' before workers forgot to attach bungee cord, causing her death.”
Firefighters and paramedics were called, but Maria was pronounced dead at the scene. Local authorities confirmed that staff ‘forgot’ to attach the safety cord before throwing her. She fell 40 metres directly into the canyon below.
After the fall, two people tried to flee into nearby woodland but were captured with help from a police helicopter. A total of six people were brought in for questioning. Three men – ages 27, 32 and 42 – were arrested at the scene and charged with homicide with implied malice, a representative for the São Paulo government confirmed.
The case is being investigated by the Civil Police, who will determine whether anyone involved faces criminal charges. The jump appeared to involve bungee operator Entre Cordas and linked instructor brand Ih Voei. Entre Cordas’s Instagram page, which advertised ‘a jump to the extraordinary’, was reportedly taken down after the death.
The Limeira City Council said it will file a complaint against the Brazilian federal government. “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,” said the mayor of Limeira, Murilo Félix.