Tall sailing ship strikes New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, 2 dead and 20 injured

Naval authorities say at least 20 others were injured after the Mexican training tall ship’s masts struck the Brooklyn Bridge. The span itself was spared major damage | WATCH

The disabled Mexican Navy tall ship floats between the Brooklyn and the Manhattan bridges on the East River. Picture: AFP

A Mexican Navy tall ship has ploughed into New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, snapping its masts and killing two crew members.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said 19 crew members were hospitalised, and two of them had died. He added that the ship had lost power before the accident.

But later the Mexican Navy said in a statement that aside from the two dead, at least 20 others were injured in the crash, including 11 who were in a critical condition and nine in a stable condition.

The bridge sustained no structural damage, the US Coast Guard and New York Police Department said.

The Cuauhtémoc, a training vessel for Mexican naval cadets, had 277 crew on board and was on its way to Iceland after a stop at New York’s South Street Seaport.

Flying a giant Mexican flag and decked in strings of lights, the ship slammed into bridge on Saturday night local time, shearing off the top of its masts as crew members hung in the rigging.

New York officials said there appeared to have been a mechanical problem aboard the vessel. The US National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the crash, they said.

Crew members dangle from ropes after the Mexican navy tall ship crashed struck the Brooklyn Bridge. Picture: Instagram

Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she was “deeply saddened” by the loss of two crew members.

“Earlier tonight, the Mexican Navy tall ship Cuauhtemoc lost power and crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge”, Mr Adams posted on X.

“At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries.”

The top of the ship’s three masts slammed into the iconic span and partially collapsed as the boat floated in the East River.

The vessel was about to leave New York for a goodwill tour when it struck the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night local time, snapping its three masts, injuring crew members and leaving some dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for help.

Everyone on board the ship was believed to be accounted for, a NYC Fire Department official said.

Remarkably, no one fell into the water, officials said.

Pedestrians in Brooklyn Bridge Park look as the masted Mexican Navy training ship sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge. Picture: Nick Corso via AP

New York Police Department Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles said the ship had just left a Manhattan pier and was supposed to have been headed out to sea, not toward the bridge.

He said an initial report was that the pilot of the ship had lost power due to a mechanical problem, though officials cautioned that information was preliminary. Videos show a tugboat was close to the Cuauhtemoc at the time of the crash.

In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, the ship, called the Cuauhtemoc, could be seen travelling swiftly toward the bridge near the Brooklyn side of the East River.

Then, its three masts struck the bridge’s main span and snapped, one by one, as the ship kept moving.

Videos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the collision.

The vessel, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag and had 277 people aboard, then drifted toward the piers lining the riverbank as onlookers scrambled away.

As midnight approached, the broken boat was moved slowly up the East River, going under and past the Manhattan Bridge, aided by a series of tugboats, before docking at a pier. Onlookers continued to gather on the waterfront to watch the spectacle.

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,” Ms Katz said.

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

A New York Police Department harbour unit prepares to board the vessel. Picture: AP

Just before the collision, Nick Corso, 23, took his phone out to capture the backdrop of the ship and the bridge against a sunset, Instead, he heard what sounded like the loud snapping of a “big twig.” Several more snaps followed.

People in his vicinity began running and “pandemonium” erupted aboard the ship, he said. He later saw a handful of people dangling from a mast.

“I didn’t know what to think, I was like, is this a movie?” he said.

This frame grab made from footage courtesy of @Corso52 via X, shows the vessel as it slams into the Brooklyn Bridge. Picture: @Corso52/AFP

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 90m 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 April 6 with 277 people onboard, the Navy said then.

Crew members gather on deck after the accident. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Tug boats assist the ship after the accident. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Sailors disembark at Pier 35 after the ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge and reached dockside. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

The Mexican consulate said May 13 on X 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.

With WSJ, AP and AFP