Overview
- A 21-year-old woman, identified as Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, was carried to the edge and launched from Ponte do Esqueleto in Limeira on Saturday morning and fell about 40 metres when the safety cord was not attached.
- Video circulating on social media shows the rope lying on the platform and bystanders shouting that she was not secured, and her final social posts from the site are being used as part of the inquiry.
- Brazil's Civil Police opened a formal criminal investigation and detained multiple people, with three crew members charged with homicide with dolus eventualis and others reported held for questioning.
- Rope jumping uses low-stretch climbing lines to create a pendulum swing unlike elastic bungee cords and depends on the rope being fastened to a harness or ankle; prosecutors will examine who should have checked and attached the equipment.
- Limeira officials say the bridge is federally controlled and announced plans to sue the federal government over known access and safety gaps that they say allowed the private activity to operate with inadequate oversight.