Three Instructors Charged After 21-Year-Old Falls 131 Feet from São Paulo Bridge
A 21-year-old woman died when she was launched from a bridge in São Paulo without a safety rope, and three instructors have been arrested on homicide charges.
A 21-year-old woman died on June 13 after falling roughly 131 feet from the Ponte do Esqueleto in São Paulo state, Brazil, when she was launched without a safety cord attached. Police investigator Andrea Dantas Levy said the three rope-jump instructors involved could not recall who was responsible for attaching or checking the ropes before the jump, noting that the ropes were not attached to the victim.
The São Paulo Secretariat of Public Security reported that the instructors, aged 27, 32 and 42, were arrested and charged with homicide with dolus eventualis, indicating authorities believe they were aware of the risk of death and proceeded nonetheless. Levy added that the group operating the jump was not authorized to conduct the activity at the site.
Video circulating online appeared to show two men lifting the woman and tossing her from the bridge while onlookers shouted warnings about the missing rope. The victim had requested an "airplane style" launch, spreading her arms as she was lifted above the instructors' shoulders. Six people were questioned in connection with the incident, but only the three instructors remain in custody.
The woman, who had aspirations to become a physical-education teacher, was buried on June 15.