Lawyer speaks out as three workers arrested over woman's death after rope jump without safety cord
Topics: World News, Crime
Thomas Bamford
Featured Image Credit: WION News
Topics: World News, Crime
Three workers from a Brazilian bungee jump company have appeared in court following the death of a young woman who was thrown off a 130ft bridge without her safety cord attached, as their lawyer has broken his silence on their state of mind.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, a model and gym worker, died after being launched from the Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, São Paulo, in what should have been a routine bungee jump.
Video footage captured workers carrying her horizontally in a Superman pose before throwing her from the edge, with the safety line still visibly lying on the platform behind them.
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Horrified witnesses can be heard screaming "the rope people, the rope" as she fell.
A nurse who was nearby rushed to Maria Eduarda's side as she lay dying from her injuries.
"She was breathing heavily. Her pupils were dilated, her pulse was weak. I even talked to her," nurse Rayza Dias told METRO. "I told her, 'Nobody dies on my shift.' Even though I wasn't on my shift."
The three men arrested for homicide with eventual intent, named locally as Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, and Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, were perp walked to court and remanded in custody after appearing before a judge.
They claimed there had been a "blackout" during the jump's setup, and that they could not remember who should have attached the cord.
Luis Felipe, who told police he earned just £26.50 per jump, said that team members did not have fixed responsibilities during jumps and that equipment checks were carried out jointly. When asked directly who was responsible for the final safety check on Maria Eduarda's jump, he said: "I can't remember." Maicon Fernandes Cintra reportedly gave police the same answer.
Their lawyer, Rafael Gomes dos Santos, has since spoken out in defence of the men. "They are in a state of shock," he said.
"They cannot explain what happened because they have been doing this for years. Nothing like this has ever happened."
In the hours before her death, Maria Eduarda had posted enthusiastically about the jump on social media.
She uploaded photos of the venue and of representatives from the private company that organised the event, writing beside one image of an Entre Cordas banner: "Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?"
The jump appeared to involve bungee rope operator Entre Cordas and a linked instructor brand called Ih Voei, with staff at the scene reportedly wearing shirts bearing both names.
Entre Cordas had advertised the experience as "a jump to the extraordinary" on its Instagram page, which was taken down following Maria Eduarda's death.
Her mother, Valdenia, expressed her grief publicly in the hours after her daughter's funeral.
"That damned rope took you away from me forever," she wrote online. "My beloved daughter, you are gone and all that remains here is pain and longing. I will love you forever."
Ponte do Esqueleto, nicknamed Skeleton Bridge, was meant to be part of Brazil’s Federal Railway Network (RFFSA).
It’s been abandoned for around 30 years. However, it has remained popular with extreme sports enthusiasts, and this isn’t the first tragedy that has taken place there.
According to O Tempo, one businessman claimed the bridge receives 500 visitors a month.
Mom-of-one Kelly Stefani de Oliveira Alves, 39, is cycling with her husband on the Skeleton Bridge when she loses her balance as her foot touches a low wall.
Tragically, she falls off the bridge and drops 15 metres with her bike, dying at the scene and leaving behind a seven-year-old son.
Following the accident, Brazil’s Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI) asks for the bridge to be closed and for danger signs to warn people not to go on it.
Nevertheless, activities at the site resumed.
Two women fall from the Skeleton Bridge and suffer serious injuries.
One woman is taken to Santa Casa de Limeira hospital with critical injuries. Another suffers multiple fractures throughout her body.