Brooklyn, New York — A Mexican navy sailing ship about to leave New York for a goodwill tour to Iceland collided with the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday night, snapping its three masts, injuring crew members, and leaving some dangling from harnesses high in the air, awaiting rescue.
According to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, at least 19 people required medical attention following the crash, four of whom suffered serious injuries, but the 142-year-old bridge was not severely damaged. The cause of the collision was being investigated.
In multiple eyewitness videos, the ship, known as the Cuauhtemoc, was seen speeding toward the bridge on the Brooklyn side of the East River. The ship’s three masts then struck the bridge’s main span and snapped one by one as it continued to move.
Video footage showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the collision.
The vessel, which was flying a massive green, white, and red Mexican flag and carrying 277 people, then drifted toward the piers lining the riverbank as onlookers fled.
Sailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts, but no one fell into the water, officials reported.
Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz told The Associated Press that they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel collide with the bridge. Looking closer, they noticed someone dangling from a high point on the ship.
“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 like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Katz told me.
Just before the collision, Nick Corso, 23, took out his phone and captured the backdrop of the ship and the bridge against a sunset. Instead, he heard what sounded like the loud snap of a “big twig.” Several additional photos were taken.
People in his vicinity started running back, and “pandemonium” broke out on the boat, he said. He later noticed a few people dangling from the mast.
“I didn’t know what to think, I was like, is this a movie?” replied the man.
In a post on the social media platform X, the Mexican navy stated that the Cuauhtemoc was an academy training vessel. It stated that 22 people were injured, with 19 requiring medical treatment.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on X that its ambassador to the United States and officials from the Mexican consulate in New York were in contact with local authorities to offer assistance.
The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a main span of nearly 1,600 feet (490 meters) supported by two masonry towers. According to the city’s transportation department, over 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross each day, and the walkway is a popular tourist attraction.
Traffic was halted following the collision, but resumed after an initial inspection of the span, according to city officials.
According to the Mexican navy, the Cuauhtemoc, which is approximately 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), made its maiden voyage in 1982.
According to the Mexican government, the vessel’s main mast measures 160 feet (48.9 meters) in height.
Following the collision, a tugboat secured it in the East River between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
Each year, the ship departs at the end of classes at the naval military school to complete cadet training. This year, it left the Mexican port of Acapulco on the Pacific coast on April 6, according to the Navy.
On May 13, the Mexican consulate announced that the Cuauhtemoc, also known as the “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas,” had arrived and docked at Pier 17. It invited people to visit until May 17.
The ship was set to visit 22 ports in 15 countries, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.
It also intended to visit Reykjavik, Iceland, Bordeaux, Saint Malo, and Dunkirk, France, as well as Aberdeen, Scotland, for a total of 254 days, 170 of which would be spent at sea.