Six people have been arrested in connection with Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas' fatal fall on Saturday, June 13
Credit: facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas fell 131 feet to her death from a bridge in Brazil on Saturday, June 13
- The fatal incident allegedly occurred after staff conducting her bungee jump forgot to attach a safety cord
- Six people have been arrested in connection with de Freitas’ death, including three men arrested at the scene
A woman fell to her death after staff allegedly forgot to attach a safety cord before she bungee jumped from a bridge in Brazil.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was thrown from the Ponte do Esqueleto, known as Skeleton Bridge, in the municipality of Limeira, São Paulo, while participating in a bungee jump on Saturday, June 13, according to the Brazilian outlets G1 and Folha de Pernambuco.
A video posted on social media showed the moment that de Freitas, 21, was carried by staff members toward the edge of the bridge and thrown over while wearing a helmet, per the outlets.
After she fell, a witness filming pointed to the rope left behind on the ground and shouted, "Guys, the rope!"
Witnesses alleged to Brazil's Military Police that de Freitas was thrown without a rope and fell about 40 meters (131 feet), per G1. A police helicopter was called for rescue, but de Freitas died at the scene.
De Freitas, a physical education and sports management graduate, had bought a guided tour with a rope jump from the top of the disused Skeleton Bridge, per G1.
"Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?" she allegedly joked on her Instagram Stories before the fatal fall, O Globo reported.
Her fiancé became ill when he arrived at the scene of her death and had to be taken to an emergency room, according to the outlet. De Freitas's social media profile was later taken down.
A total of six people have been arrested in connection with de Freitas' fatal fall, according to the outlet, per O Globo.
Three of them were arrested at the scene and charged with homicide with implied malice, which applies when someone intentionally commits an inherently dangerous act with conscious disregard, leading to death or serious bodily harm, G1 reported.
"It was a team there that wasn't regulated; they didn't even have authorization to be there,” Delegate Andrea Dantas Levy reportedly told the outlet. “They ended up organizing this event, and," he contended, "this fatality happened today, in my perception, due to a failure to verify and supervise the placement of the rope on the victim's jump.”
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Credit: g1
The defendants' defense attorneys said that they are very experienced on the job and that this was the first fatality in years with the company, per G1.
The Limeira City Council is filing a complaint against the Brazilian federal government following the incident, according to the outlet.
"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, per The Mirror U.K.
Brazil's Civil Police is investigating the incident.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Military Police and Civil Police for comment.
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