Twenty-one-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas died after falling nearly 130 feet from a bridge during an unlicensed bungee-jumping event in Brazil, a tragedy that has sparked outrage and renewed scrutiny of safety standards in adventure sports. The fatal incident took place at Ponte do Esqueleto, or “Skeleton Bridge,” a popular extreme-sports location between Limeira and Cordeirópolis in São Paulo state. According to investigators, Rodrigues de Freitas was launched from the bridge without the main safety rope being attached to her harness.

Video footage shared on social media appears to show instructors lifting the young woman onto their shoulders before pushing her from the edge of the abandoned structure. Moments later, horrified onlookers can be heard shouting that the bungee cord was not connected.

Among the first people to reach the victim was off-duty nurse Rayza Dias, who said Rodrigues de Freitas was still alive when she arrived at the base of the bridge. Speaking to local media, Dias recalled scrambling down the steep, muddy terrain and injuring her hands in an attempt to reach the young woman.

“I scraped my whole hand because there’s a steep slope down there and only one rope for us to climb down,” Dias said while speaking to Brazilian TV network Domingo Espetacular on Sunday. “It was all covered in mud. I kept going down, down; we walked all the way,” she added.

According to the nurse, Rodrigues de Freitas remained conscious for a brief period after the fall and even spoke to her as rescuers tried to help.

“I saw that she was breathing heavily, and I looked at her pupils, which unfortunately were both dilated amd felt her pulse. It was very weak, but she still had a pulse. I even talked to her. I have a habit of joking and saying, ‘Nobody dies on my shift.’ And I told her, “Duda [Eduarda], nobody dies on my shift. “Even though I wasn’t on my shift there,” she said.

Authorities initially detained six people in connection with the incident. Investigators are now examining whether safety protocols were ignored and whether those responsible for organising the jump could face charges, including homicide resulting from extreme negligence.

The incident has triggered widespread criticism of unregulated adventure tourism operators and raised serious questions about the use of abandoned structures for high-risk recreational activities. Officials are continuing to investigate how such a catastrophic safety failure occurred and whether the jump should have been allowed to proceed in the first place.