Two dead after Mexican Navy sailing ship hits Brooklyn Bridge in New York City

A Mexican navy sailing ship on a global goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday night, snapping its three masts, fatally injuring two crew members and leaving some sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for help.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage but at least 19 people about the ship needed medical treatment after the crash.

Two of the four people who suffered more serious injuries later died, Adams announced on social media early on Sunday morning (local time).

The cause of the collision was under investigation.

In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, the ship, called the Cuauhtemoc, could be seen traveling 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 8.20pm 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.

The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc was an academy training vessel and a total of 22 people were injured, 19 of whom needed medical treatment.

It is unclear what caused the ship to veer off course, but 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. However, officials cautioned that information was preliminary, and videos show a tugboat was close to the Cuauhtemoc at the time of the crash.