A 21-year-old physical education graduate, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, tragically died in Limera, Brazil, after a rope jumping crew failed to attach her to the safety rope before she jumped from the Ponte do Esqueleto bridge, resulting in a fatal 40-meter fall. Witness accounts and video evidence confirm the oversight, with one person audibly realizing the mistake just before she was pushed off the platform. Approximately six individuals associated with the rope jumping operation were arrested following the incident, and the company running the business, Entre Cordas, has since deleted its social media presence. The Limeira City Hall announced its intention to sue the Federal Government for alleged omission regarding the safety of the bridge, while the civil police continue their investigation into the preventable tragedy.

A 21-year-old physical education graduate, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, tragically died in Limera, Brazil, after a rope jumping crew failed to attach her to the safety rope before she jumped from the Ponte do Esqueleto bridge, resulting in a fatal 40-meter fall. Witness accounts and video evidence confirm the oversight, with one person audibly realizing the mistake just before she was pushed off the platform. Approximately six individuals associated with the rope jumping operation were arrested following the incident, and the company running the business, Entre Cordas, has since deleted its social media presence. The Limeira City Hall announced its intention to sue the Federal Government for alleged omission regarding the safety of the bridge, while the civil police continue their investigation into the preventable tragedy.

A 21-year-old physical education graduate, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, tragically died in Limera, Brazil, after a rope jumping crew failed to attach her to the safety rope before she jumped from the Ponte do Esqueleto bridge, resulting in a fatal 40-meter fall. Witness accounts and video evidence confirm the oversight, with one person audibly realizing the mistake just before she was pushed off the platform. Approximately six individuals associated with the rope jumping operation were arrested following the incident, and the company running the business, Entre Cordas, has since deleted its social media presence. The Limeira City Hall announced its intention to sue the Federal Government for alleged omission regarding the safety of the bridge, while the civil police continue their investigation into the preventable tragedy.

A 21-year-old woman died in Limera, Brazil, after a rope jumping crew failed to connect her to the safety rope used in the extreme sport, military police and witness accounts said.

About six men were arrested following the woman’s death. Three of them were released following questioning. The other three will be investigated on charges of homicide with implied malice, local media reported. 

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, a graduate of physical education and sports management, had gone rope jumping with her fiancé at the Ponte do Esqueleto (Skeleton Bridge).

The incident occurred on Saturday morning.

According to military police, people on site reported that the safety equipment was not secured on to the woman before she was launched by two men off the platform.

Two videos emerged of the incident.

The videos also show that the rope was not secured to the woman before the men carried her to be thrown off the bridge.

Right before she was launched off the platform, someone can be heard shouting, “Guys, the rope,” after realising the woman was not connected to the safety rope.

The woman fell 40 meters and suffered multiple injuries. Paramedics confirmed her death on site.

Before her death, Freitas posted photographs on her Instagram. In one of the captions, she joked, “Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?”

Her profile was taken down after her death.

Her social media showed that she was a recent graduate and was a resident of Jandira in Greater São Paulo, where she worked at a gym. The gym posted a message mourning Freitas’s death.

The company that runs the rope-jumping business, Entre Cordas, deleted its page with 80,000 followers after the incident.

The Limeira City Hall said Saturday that it will sue the Federal Government in court "due to the omission regarding the Ponte do Esqueleto", after the death of a young woman at the site.

In a statement, the City Hall claimed that the responsibility for the inspection, maintenance, and access control of the bridge lay exclusively with the Federal Government.

They stated that since 2025, they had already sent official letters to the responsible bodies demanding security measures on the bridge, including a request to block access and place warning sites. Depsite this activites continued.

The case is being investigated by the civil police.

The three men who were arrested are 47,32 and 27 years old. One of them is a civilian firefighter, and the other two helped on-site with the jumping.

The woman's fiancé reportedly fell ill after her death and was given medical attention.

What is rope jumping?

The woman was partaking in a sport called rope jumping, which is often confused with bungee jumping.

In rope jumping, the practitioner jumps from an elevated location like bridges, buildings or rock faces while attached to climbing ropes connected to an anchor. The ropes used are less elastic, giving the person a feeling that they are free-falling for a longer time.

Bungee jumping, meanwhile, uses elastic ropes.

Adventure sports require rigorous planning and calculations regarding height and equipment. The founder of rope jumping, Dan Osman, died in 1998 when his anchoring system failed during a jump in Yosemite National Park, California.

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