Two people have died after all three masts of a Mexican navy ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City just before 8:30 p.m. EDT on the evening of May 17.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference at about midnight that two Mexican sailors had died after succumbing to their injuries and that two more were in serious condition.
“We are praying for everyone on board and their families and are grateful to our first responders who quickly jumped into action, ensuring this accident wasn’t much worse,” Adams wrote in a post on social media platform X.
The Mexican navy confirmed on X that its training ship, the Cuauhtémoc sailboat, was involved. It said in an update that 22 people were injured.
The 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage, Adams said.
A search and rescue operation responded to injured sailors who were standing on the masts of the ship at the time of the collision.
They were likely manning the yards, in an act of ceremonial respect that is conducted by the crew while docking or departing. Some were seen by witnesses still clinging to the lower section of the masts left standing after the upper halves had been snapped off upon impact.
“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 ... at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Lily Katz said.
The witnesses reported that the bridge visibly shook from the collision. As the masts of the ship hit the side of the bridge, hundreds of cars were still on it, crossing the East River.
According to the Mexican navy, the ship—manned by a 277-strong crew with about 150 cadets—was departing from Pier 17 in the New York City borough of Manhattan when it strayed northward and over to the Brooklyn side of the river, where it struck the bridge.
The next destination of the goodwill vessel was meant to be Iceland, Ambassador of Mexico Esteban Moctezuma Barragán told reporters alongside Adams at the news conference.
“I want to thank the mayor for his support, and we will continue to be very close to the families and the injured in order to help them in any way we can,” he said.
Authorities in New York are investigating the site where a Mexican sailing ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge for clues about how the fatal collision occurred.
Two people on board were killed and at least 19 others were injured when the Mexican Navy training ship crashed into the bridge on Saturday night.
Police said early investigations showed the ship had lost power before the collision. Video showed the ship's three tall masts crumbling as horrified onlookers watched from the shore.
It's not clear how the vessel came to approach the bridge, which authorities confirmed was not damaged by the strike. It had reopened to traffic late on Saturday.
Police said the Cuauhtémoc ship had a 48.2m (158ft) mast height while the bridge had a 41.1m (135ft) clearance at its centre, according to the New York transport department's website.
Responders were able to remove at least 27 people from the ship for treatment, while all 277 personnel on the ship were accounted for, said New York fire authorities.
The ship lost all three masts and has been moved to a nearby pier for investigation.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to assist in the investigation, which is being coordinated between the US and Mexico governments.
Mexico's Navy Secretary Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles said in a statement the results of any investigation would be followed with "total transparency and responsibility".
The Cuauhtémoc left Acapulco, Mexico, on 6 April on a tour that included stops in New York and Aberdeen, Scotland, for the city's Tall Ships race in July.
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