Chilling detail at ‘skeleton bridge’ where woman died after ‘staff forgot to attach safety rope’
A Brazilian bridge where a woman died after a rope jump went seriously wrong has a sign with a chilling warning.
21-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas allegedly did not have a safety rope attached when staff members conducing rope jumps from the bridge threw her off the edge of it.
The woman, who shortly before her death posted on social media: "Who was the crazy person that let me jump off a bridge?", was posing like Superman when she went over the side and dropped 131 feet to the ground.
Disturbing footage online of the incident appeared to include someone shouting 'The rope, people, the rope!' right after she went over the side.
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Three people were arrested at the scene, with police saying two of them claim to not remember what happened in the moments before Maria fell to her death, and a third said the rope was not his responsibility.
Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, were charged with homicide with implied malice.
In Brazil, this charge means that police believe they didn't intend to kill Maria, but their actions mean they assume responsibility for the risk that led to her death.
Their legal representative called the woman's death a 'sad fatality' and said the jump operators had worked for many years without a history of accidents.
The bridge's history of injuries and deaths
The bridge itself unfortunately has a rather grisly reputation as there are many visitors, with deaths and injuries there in recent years from people suffering terrible accidents.
As such, there is a sign for the bridge with a skeleton on it and a warning that says: "Danger. Risk of death."
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.
Topics: World News, Crime
Joe Harker