Rope-jumping tragedy in Brazil: rope not attached – woman (21) falls to her death

It was meant to be a special moment: Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, a sports graduate, had come to go rope-jumping with her fiancé at the Ponte do Esqueleto – the so-called "Skeleton Bridge" – in Limeira in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

But as she jumped, the unthinkable happened: two men launched the young woman off the platform – without the safety rope being attached to her harness.

Witnesses say someone shouted "Guys, the rope!" at the last second. By then it was already too late. Maria Eduarda fell around 40 metres into a ravine and died at the scene.