Instructors arrested in Brazil bungee jump death can't explain what happened
Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Three instructors arrested in connection with a fatal bungee jumping accident in Brazil could not explain what happened.
- The victim, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, died after being launched without safety equipment.
- Authorities are considering demolishing the viaduct used for the jumps to prevent future clandestine extreme sports events.
Three instructors arrested in connection with the death of a 21-year-old woman during a bungee jumping accident in Brazil have been unable to provide clear explanations to the Civil Police about the incident. The victim, identified as Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, died last Saturday after being launched into the void without the necessary safety equipment during a jump at the Ponte do Esqueleto.
The accused instructors, Vitor de Freitas Gonรงalves, 27; Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32; and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, are currently in judicial custody. Video testimonies obtained by TV Globo reveal that Egoroff and Cintra acknowledged responsibility for securing the ropes before each activity. However, neither could detail how safety tasks were divided or how the pre-launch checks were conducted for Freitas.
Siempre decimos que la cuerda es visible, es bien visible. Entonces es difรญcil entender cรณmo no lo vimos
"It's always hard to understand how we didn't see it," Egoroff stated in a released clip, referring to the visible safety rope. Cintra described a fluid process where roles for securing and checking the rope could be interchangeable. Gonรงalves admitted his role was limited to positioning the victim before the jump.
The lawyer representing the instructors, Rafael Gomes dos Santos, plans to file a motion for their release. He argues against the charge of intentional homicide, asserting that the accused did not intend to cause the death or voluntarily assume the risk of a fatal outcome. The Ponte do Esqueleto, located about 150 kilometers from Sรฃo Paulo, features a viaduct between 30 and 35 meters high, commonly used for activities like bungee jumping and rope jumping. In response to the accident, the Brazilian government is considering demolishing the structure, originally built for a railway and abandoned over three decades ago, to eliminate clandestine extreme sports events.
A veces yo coloco (la cuerda) y otro chequea, a veces otro chequea y otro coloca...
Originally published by BioBioChile in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.