Three bungee jumping bridge employees arrested after death of young woman in Brazil
Brazilian police have arrested three employees responsible for a bungee jumping site in São Paulo after a 21-year-old woman died when she jumped without the safety equipment attached to her body.
Three bungee jumping bridge employees arrested after death of young woman in Brazil
Brazilian police have detained three workers at a bungee jumping site in São Paulo state after a 21-year-old woman died when she jumped without the safety equipment attached to her body. The information was disclosed by the news portal Telex.
The accident occurred on the bridge known as "Skeleton Bridge", where Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was thrown into the void by three workers. The safety cable remained on the ground whilst the young woman fell approximately 40 metres. Emergency responders who arrived at the scene were only able to confirm her death.
During interrogation, those detained claimed they did not remember who was supposed to have attached the equipment to the victim. According to their account, there was no clear division of tasks among them. The work was carried out alternately, without an organised verification system.
One of those arrested described the routine as follows: sometimes one person would attach the equipment and another would check it, at other times the same individual would perform both steps. This lack of standardisation is said to have contributed to the tragedy.
Video footage recorded at the moment of the jump shows the three workers lifting the young woman and throwing her into the abyss, whilst the cable remains stationary at their feet. In the video, it is possible to hear desperate screams from witnesses who realised the mistake.
The victim's boyfriend, who was present, went into shock and needed to be hospitalised. Police are investigating the case as involuntary manslaughter. Six people were questioned, but only the three who appear in the footage remain in custody.
The lawyer for those arrested stated that his clients are deeply distressed and unable to explain what happened. According to him, the three had worked at the site for years and nothing like this had ever occurred. Police are also searching for a camera that the young woman supposedly had with her at the moment of the jump, but which disappeared after the incident.
Source: Telex