Safety Line Wasn't Secured in Fatal Bridge Jump

A 21-year-old woman stepped off an abandoned Brazilian bridge for a rope jump on Saturday—but police say no rope was attached. Video of the incident shows three helmeted men in safety harnesses lifting Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas to the edge of the so-called "Skeleton Bridge," on the border of Limeira and Cordeirópolis in São Paulo state, before two throw her over the ledge head first. She fell about 130 feet and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to reports. An onlooker can be heard shouting that the cord hadn't been secured, per the BBC. The footage also shows a loose rope curled on top of the bridge.

The three men, reportedly working as rope-jumping instructors, were arrested and are under investigation for possible "homicide with eventual intent," a charge used when someone is accused of assuming the risk of causing death. Officials say the men belonged to a private company offering rope-jumping—an extreme sport that uses low-stretch climbing ropes to produce a pendulum-style swing, unlike elastic bungee cords, per the Guardian. The bridge, long abandoned and under federal control, is now at the center of a jurisdictional fight: Limeira's city hall says it will sue the federal government for alleged failure to manage the site, arguing the young woman's death makes further inaction "unsustainable and unacceptable." Rodrigues de Freitas was buried Sunday.