Video shows Brazilian bungee instructor performing terrifying stunt with child before arrest in untethered woman’s fatal plunge
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A bungee-jumping instructor charged with the death of a young student who plummeted 130 feet to her death without a rope in Brazil was seen in a resurfaced video terrifyingly jumping off the doomed bridge with a young child.
Three instructors — Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Vitor de Freitas Goncalves, 27, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42 — were charged with homicide in connection with the death of Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, in Limeira, near São Paulo, O Globo reported.
The trio is understood to be the three instructors in a viral video lifting the untethered Rodrigues de Freitas and launching her to her death off the “Skeleton Bridge” on Saturday — after forgetting to attach the bungee cord to her.
Egoroff frequently posted videos on social media of terrifying bungee jumping stunts off the now-defunct railway line before his arrest, the Daily Mail first reported.
One terrifying video from 2023 showed him holding a bungee cord with one hand as a young boy clutches his neck. He then runs off the edge of the bridge with the child.
“Let’s put an end to these bizarre practices! Hold them all accountable for crime!” one user commented under the video.
“Total irresponsibility,” another user said.
Other Instagram videos and photos captured the daredevil instructor casually standing on an almost nonexistent mountainside ledge and haphazardly flying through the air after bungee jumping off bridge columns.
Two of the instructors fled once they realized what had happened to Rodrigues de Freitas as her horrified fiancé watched, but were ultimately tracked down by a military helicopter.
The pair of suspects had a “blackout” and did not remember attaching the crucial safety rope before the student was hurled off the 130-foot bridge, the deputy responsible, Andréa Dantas Levy, told O Globo.
Their defense attorney told Brazilian media outlets that the three instructors had experience in the field and had never had a fatality in years on the job.
Three other employees, who were in a tent next to the jump site, handing bracelets to customers, were detained and later released.
Rodrigues de Freitas was seen carrying a 360-degree camera, which the unlicensed bungee jumping company provided for an extra $30 on top of the $36 for the jump, before her fatal plunge.
But that camera was not located at the base of the bridge, according to Brazilian media.
Tributes have poured in for Rodrigues de Freitas after her shocking death.
“My beloved daughter, today alone I wanted to hug you more than a thousand times,” her mother wrote on social media, according to Brazilian outlet Estadao.
“How much your departure hurts me. I love you eternally, my princess. And thank you so much for being a part of my life for these 21 years. What an honor it was to hear you call me mom. God, thank you for this privilege.”
Moments before jumping, Rodrigues de Freitas shared an Instagram post asking, “Who was the crazy one who let me come jump off a bridge?”
