Two people have been killed and at least 19 others injured after a tall Mexican Navy training sailing ship crashed into New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge.
Police said the Cuauhtémoc, with 277 people on board, lost power on Saturday as the captain was manoeuvring the vessel, forcing it to head for the bridge abutment on the Brooklyn side.
Footage shows the ship’s towering masts clip the bridge as it passed under the structure. Crew members were standing on the masts as they snapped and fell to the deck, authorities said.
Brooklyn resident Nick Corso, who witnessed the accident, said the area erupted in panic. There was “lots of screaming, some sailors hanging from the masts,” he told AFP.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed on X that two people died and two of the 19 injured were in critical condition.
Brooklyn Bridge did not suffer any major damage and was reopened after a preliminary inspection.
Police said they believed “mechanical issues” and a power cut had caused the collision.
The New York Coast Guard said the Cuauhtémoc lost all three masts. All personnel on the ship had been accounted for and no-one had fallen in the water.
Crowds fled from the water’s edge as the ship hit the bridge.
Another witness, Kelvin Flores, told the BBC he was at work when he saw the crash.
He came out into the street to find a lot of “commotion and a lot of chaos” with fire engines and police trying to reach the scene but the roads clogged with traffic.
“Just seeing the actual damage was insane,” he said. “People carrying stretchers… they were trying to get the injured out.”
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was deeply saddened by the loss of two crew members in the accident.
The Cuauhtémoc was towed from the scene after the crash.
The vessel, which measures 297 feet long (91m) and 40 feet (12m) wide, according to the Mexican navy, sailed for the first time in 1982.
Each year it sets sail at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco on 6 April, the navy said. Its final destination was intended to be Iceland.
Police said the Cuauhtémoc’s mast height was 48.2m (158ft). The New York transport department’s website says the bridge has a 135ft clearance at its centre.
