Two dead after Mexican navy training ship hits New York's Brooklyn Bridge

NEW YORK: Two people have died and 17 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday (May 17).

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Sunday that two people remain in critical condition. The ship Cuauhtemoc had lost power and slammed into the bridge, he added.

The Mexican Navy said on social media late on Saturday that 22 people were injured on board the ship, of which 19 were receiving medical attention in local hospitals. No rescue operations were needed because no one fell into the water, it added.

In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, the masts could be seen snapping and partially collapsing as they crashed into the deck of the bridge. Videos showed heavy traffic on the bridge at the time of the collision.

The vessel, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag, then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.

Adams said the 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage. The cause of the collision was under investigation.

Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz told The Associated Press they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge and one of its masts snap. Looking closer, they saw someone dangling from high on the ship.

“We saw someone dangling, and I couldn’t tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Katz said.

They said they saw two people removed from the ship on stretchers onto smaller boats.

The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in an accident with the Brooklyn Bridge that prevented it from continuing its voyage.

It added that the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said on X that its ambassador to the US and officials from the Mexican consulate in New York were in contact with local authorities to provide assistance to “the affected cadets,” but it did not mention injuries.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 490m main span that is supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city’s transportation department, and its walkway is a major tourist attraction.

The Cuauhtemoc – about 90.5m long and 12m wide, according to the Mexican Navy – sailed for the first time in 1982.

Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets' training. This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on Apr 6 with 277 people onboard, the Navy said then.

The Mexican consulate said on X on May 13 that the Cuauhtemoc, also called the Ambassador and Knight of the Seas, arrived that day and docked at pier 17. It invited people to visit it through May 17.

The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.

It had also planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days, 170 of them at sea.