A man who witnessed his friend being thrown to her death by three bungee instructors who forgot to attach a safety rope has detailed how the 'fun day' ended in tragedy as the trio are pictured.

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, was seen in disturbing footage circulating online being hurled from the Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, São Paulo, on Saturday and falling to her death.

Now, a friend of Maria's who was with her on the bridge on that fateful day has explained how the day unravelled into horror. 

Speaking to local news outlet EPTV, a young man who did not reveal his name said the pair just wanted to 'have fun' before his friend of two years lost her life.

'Duda was a sweetheart. A perfect woman, a dreamer, polite, with a huge heart. And all we wanted was to have fun that day, and then this tragedy happened,' he said.

He also paid tribute to Maria in a heartfelt social media post, where he said: 'I still can't believe it, Dudinha. I think it's a nightmare, and I'm going to wake up. 

You're the most amazing person I've ever met. I love you, girl. I don't know if I can handle all this. I know nothing will bring you back, but I pray to God that we'll see each other again. I love you, Dudinha, I'll never forget you.'

On Saturday, Maria, an aspiring physical education teacher, had asked to be launched 130ft from the abandoned bridge 'aeroplane style', with three instructors hoisting her above their shoulders as she spread out her arms. 

Viral video of her last moments showed the trio picking her up over their heads and launching her off the bridge, with the safety rope lying in a pile at their feet. 

Two of the instructors then tried to flee the scene when they realised their grave mistake, before they were tracked down by a military helicopter and arrested in a nearby wooded area, local media reports.

The São Paulo Public Security Secretariat then confirmed that six people were taken in for questioning. Three men were then arrested for homicide with eventual intent following the tragic death.

The trio remanded in custody after appearing before a judge have been named as Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, and Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27.

Luis Felipe, who says he earned just £26.50 per jump, told police after his arrest that team members didn't have set responsibilities during the jumps and equipment checks were carried out 'jointly.'

Quizzed on who was responsible for the final safety checks for Maria Eduarda's jump, he told police: 'I can't remember.' Maicon Fernandes Cintra reportedly gave cops the same answer. 

According to reports, Egoroff and Cintra held Freitas's body for the throw, and Goncalves held her feet. 

Egoroff and Cintra appeared dazed in new mugshots when they were taken into custody, as their attorney said the men were confused over who was supposed to attach the bungee cord to Freitas. 

The bungee instructors' attorney told Brazilian news outlet Metropoles that after he spoke with the three men, none of them could tell him who was responsible for securing Freitas' rope. 

The attorney said that all three had helped Freitas before her jump, but they were unsure who made the final safety checks before disaster struck.

'I spoke with them, and they were all responsible for the inspection. First, they put on a kind of vest, and then the rope,' the attorney said. 

On Monday, a witness claimed that they saw one of the employees involved in Maria's jump remove the action camera before she was thrown.

Rafael Goulard, who was waiting in line for his turn at the rope jump, told local news outlet EPTV: 'The first scene I remember was seeing one of the employees removing the GoPro camera from the neck of the body that was already on the ground. 

'Was he worried about the equipment, about hiding evidence, or worried about its financial value?'

According to the police report, the victim was using an action camera to film the experience, as she was seen wearing the GoPro in footage prior to the jump.

However, when questioned by cops on the camera's location, the employees claimed they did not know where it was. Searches were conducted in the surrounding area, but the equipment was not located.

The young woman was seen in the horrific footage of the incident, kitted out in a helmet and harness, but a long pile of rope could be seen unattached on the floor beside instructors from the company Entre Cordas.

At the time of the incident, Maria had been donning a safety helmet and body harness, which would have featured locking carabiners in the waist area for the heavy-duty climbing rope that should have been attached before she was launched. 

Just hours before the tragedy, she shared a series of social media posts expressing her excitement and nervousness ahead of the jump.

In one of the Instagram stories, posted at around 7.30am, the woman showed the bridge and the grassland below, along with the caption: 'Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?'

Another chilling post captured a road sign with a depiction of a skeleton that read: 'Danger. Risk of death'.

In a third story, Maria showed off her paper wristbands, which branded messages: 'Welcome aboard the ropes!', 'I'm going to fly', and 'take off authorised'.

Shockingly, Maria did not die immediately after plunging more than 100 feet to the ground, the nurse who tried to save her told Brazilian TV.

Rayza Dias, a nurse at the scene, said de Freitas was suffering horrific injuries but had not yet died when she raced to her aid, and said it was difficult to get to her in the rural area. 

'I scraped my whole hand because there's a steep slope down there and only one rope for us to climb down,' she told news show Domingo Espetacular on Sunday. 'It was all covered in mud. I kept going down, down, we walked all the way.'

Dias described how the victim was breathing heavily and still had a weak pulse when she tried to give her life-saving care.

She began to get emotional as she said: 'I even talked to her. I have a habit of joking and saying, "Nobody dies on my shift." And I told her, "Duda, nobody dies on my shift." Even though I wasn't on my shift there.'