Two dead after Mexican ship hits iconic Brooklyn Bridge
A Mexican Navy sailing ship, adorned with lights and a giant flag, struck the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday evening, an incident that left two people dead and 17 injured and severed the training ship's three masts, Reuters reported, citing New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Online videos showed the training ship Cuauhtemoc as it approached the iconic bridge over the East River, near Manhattan, which connects Manhattan to the borough of Brooklyn.
Its masts, over 45 meters (150 feet) high, were too tall to pass under the bridge's archway at that point and were severed when the vessel, named after the last Aztec emperor, attempted to clear the bridge.
The Mexican Navy said on social media Saturday evening that 22 people on board the ship were injured, 19 of whom were receiving medical attention at local hospitals, including three seriously injured.
No rescue operations were needed, as no one fell into the water, it added.
Early Sunday, Adams wrote on platform X that two of the 277 people aboard at the time had died, and another two were in critical condition.
Mexican Navy cadets dressed in white uniforms could be seen hanging from the ship's damaged structure after the accident.
No one fell into the water; the injuries occurred while people were on the ship,' a police official said, adding that mechanical problems most likely caused the accident but provided no further details.
At one end of the suspension bridge, near New York's South Street Seaport, an online video showed passersby running in fear as the massive ship struck the bridge and veered towards the dock.
The bridge, a popular tourist attraction and one of the main links between Manhattan and Brooklyn, was completed in 1883. It was once the world's largest suspension bridge.
The bridge did not sustain major damage, a New York transportation official said. Traffic reopened in both directions after a preliminary inspection.
Earlier, Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on social media that Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. and other officials are providing assistance to the affected cadets and are in contact with local authorities.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed deep sadness over the accident.
'We are deeply saddened by the loss of two crew members who lost their lives in this unfortunate accident,' Sheinbaum wrote in a message posted on X.
The training ship Cuauhtemoc was built at Celaya Shipyards in Bilbao, Spain, in 1981, according to the South Street Seaport Museum, which said on its website that it was co-hosting the ship's visit to New York, which was scheduled to end Saturday evening. The public was invited to come aboard the ship during its visit to the area.
The sailing ship was scheduled to leave New York and sail towards Iceland, the New York City police official said.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
