Three additional people have been taken into custody over the death of a young woman who was thrown from a bridge during a botched bungee jump in Brazil.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, plunged more than 100ft to her death earlier this month from Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, in the state of São Paulo.
Three men were already facing charges of homicide with eventual intent, and the Daily Mail understands that three further suspects have now been arrested.
One of those detained is believed to be a woman arrested in Rio de Janeiro who is said to be the overall head of the group behind the fatal stunt, the Daily Mail has been told.
The two other suspects were arrested on Friday in Limeira and in the city of Indaiatuba. One is alleged to have taken the GoPro camera Rodrigues de Freitas was holding at the time of the jump.
The two men now in custody are understood not to be the same three individuals who were initially detained and later released by police in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.
In disturbing footage that spread widely online, Rodrigues de Freitas can be seen being lifted onto the shoulders of two men before stretching out her arms and being thrown over the edge.
Within less than three seconds, she had struck the ground below, while the rope that was supposed to break her fall remained coiled on the bridge.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, was hurled more than 100ft to her death earlier this month from Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, São Paulo
Rodrigues de Freitas had asked to be launched ‘airplane style’ from the bridge, with a horrifying video showing the moment three instructors hoisted her above their shoulders
Miraculously, Rodrigues de Freitas was still breathing for a short while before dying at the scene.
She had traveled from her home in a São Paulo suburb to be among a large group who put their lives in the hands of the unregulated rope-jump companies.
Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42 and 27-year-old Vitor de Freitas Goncalves were arrested and charged with homicide with eventual intent.
It means they did not intend to kill, but are accused of a dangerous act that carried a fatal risk.
Startling interrogation footage revealed that Feliciano Egoroff, who carried Rodrigues de Freitas at the front, told cops he and Fernandes Cintra were responsible for attaching the rope.
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‘It’s him or me who does that,’ he said in the clip, reported by EPTV.
But then Feliciano Egoroff repeatedly insisted he could not recall other details of what happened in the lead up to the tragedy.
‘I went to the front first,’ he said. ‘After that it erased from my mind. I can’t remember.’
Fernandes Cintra said he had been the instructor at the young woman’s feet. ‘In the procedure, sometimes I’m the one who places the rope, sometimes it’s Felipe.’
Rodrigues de Freitas was still breathing for a short while before dying at the scene
Three men, Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, were arrested for homicide with eventual intent
He said it was difficult to understand how the mistake leading to the tragedy happened.
‘It’s us three on the job. I can’t understand at what moment I didn’t see the rope,’ he said. ‘I simply cannot understand.’
According to a police report seen by the Daily Mail, Rodrigues de Freitas was given a GoPro camera to hold and record her descent.
But it is understood the camera, which could hold further clues to the horror, has mysteriously vanished.
Asked where it was, de Freitas Goncalves told police: ‘Right, yeah, we don’t know’.
The Daily Mail exclusively revealed this week that the bridge is to be blown up to prevent future tragedies.
Work started Wednesday morning, less than a week after Rodrigues de Freitas was hurled off the bridge to her death.
The decision to demolish the dangerous structure comes after a heartbroken relative demanded action in a text to a local politician who for years has campaigned against the rogue cord and bungee operators using it.
