Two people were killed and at least 19 others injured after a tall training ship from the Mexican Navy, the Cuauhtémoc, struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
Police said the ship, carrying 277 people, lost power on Saturday as the captain was steering, causing it to collide with the bridge’s abutment on the Brooklyn side. Video footage captured the ship’s masts hitting the bridge as it passed underneath. According to authorities, crew members standing on the masts fell when they broke and crashed onto the deck.
Witness Nick Corso, a Brooklyn resident, described the aftermath as chaotic, with “lots of screaming” and some sailors seen dangling from the damaged masts.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed via X that two people died in the incident, and two of the injured are in critical condition. A preliminary inspection found no major structural damage to the bridge, which has since reopened.
Police suspect the crash was caused by a mechanical failure and power outage. The U.S. Coast Guard reported the Cuauhtémoc lost all three of its masts but confirmed all crew members were accounted for, with no one falling into the water.
Crowds at the waterfront scrambled to safety when the ship struck the bridge. Another eyewitness, Kelvin Flores, said he stepped outside at work to see “commotion and chaos” as emergency crews struggled to reach the area through heavy traffic. “Seeing the damage was insane,” he said, describing responders rushing to aid the injured with stretchers.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed sorrow over the loss of the two sailors. The Cuauhtémoc was later towed away from the crash site.