NEW YORK: Two people died and 19 others were injured when a Mexican Navy training ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
The incident occurred on Saturday when the vessel, named Cuauhtémoc, reportedly lost power while being maneuvered near the bridge, according to police.
Carrying 277 people, the ship struck the bridge abutment on the Brooklyn side after its masts hit the structure. Video footage shows the tall masts clipping the underside of the bridge and snapping, with crew members seen falling as the broken masts collapsed onto the deck.
Witnesses described scenes of panic. Brooklyn local Nick Corso told AFP that people were screaming, and some sailors were dangling from the rigging. New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed via X (formerly Twitter) that two people had died, and two of the injured were in critical condition.
Despite the impact, the Brooklyn Bridge sustained no major damage and was reopened after an initial inspection. Authorities suspect mechanical failure and a power outage led to the incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported that all three of Cuauhtémoc‘s masts were lost in the crash but confirmed that everyone aboard had been accounted for and no one had fallen overboard.
Eyewitness Kelvin Flores, who saw the aftermath, told the BBC the scene was chaotic, with emergency responders struggling to reach the site due to traffic congestion. “It was insane seeing the damage—people on stretchers, emergency crews rushing in,” he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of the two crew members. Following the collision, the vessel was towed away from the area.
The Cuauhtémoc, a 297-foot-long and 40-foot-wide tall ship, was built in 1982 and is used to train cadets from Mexico’s naval military school. It had departed from Acapulco on April 6, with Iceland as its intended final destination. The ship’s masts are 48.2 meters tall, while the Brooklyn Bridge has a central clearance of approximately 135 feet (41.1 meters), according to the New York transportation department.
(Inputs from BBC and AFP)
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