Chilling joke instructor charged with throwing woman off rope jump ‘without safety rope’ made

A chilling joke made by one of the rope jump staff members charged with throwing a 21-year-old woman to her death in Brazil has emerged on his social media account.

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was partaking in a rope jump - similar to a bungee jump but without an elasticated cable - off Ponte do Esqueleto, 'Skeleton Bridge', in the city of Limeira, when staff members allegedly forgot to attach the 'safety rope,' according to witnesses.

Harrowing footage shows Maria being held aloft by staff before she was sent down the 131-foot drop.

Though she was reportedly still alive when help arrived, she tragically died of her injuries at the scene.

Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, were charged with homicide with implied malice.

Now, it has come to light that Egoroff has joked about throwing bodies off 'Skeleton Bridge' in the past.

Rope jumping instructor joked about throwing bodies off Skeleton Bridge

As reported by Brazilian publication O Globo, a video posted on Instagram by Egoroff in September 2022, nearly four years before the accident, shows him and other instructors dropping a black bag made to look like it contained a dead body off the bridge in Sao Paulo state.

The video is entitled 'Hiding the body.'

The lawyer of the three arrested men, Rafael Gomes dos Santos, provided an update on Tuesday.

He told the Mirror: "They are in a state of shock. They cannot explain what happened because they have been doing this for years. Nothing like this has ever happened."

Timeline of accidents at Brazil's Skeleton Bridge

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.

April 2024

Mum-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.

August 2025

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.