NEW YORK — A Mexican official has reported that a female cadet was among the two individuals killed when a tall Mexican Navy ship on an international goodwill tour collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday evening.
According to the governor of Veracruz, Rocío Nahle, the victim is identified as cadet América Yamilet Sánchez.
“I deeply regret the passing of Veracruz cadet América Yamilet Sánchez. My love, support, and solidarity go out to her family. My gratitude to the @SEMAR_mx and my wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured. Veracruz is with you,” Nahle expressed in a translated post on X.
Nearly two dozen others were also injured when the ship, known as the Cuauhtémoc, lost power and crashed into the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The accident occurred just before 8:30 p.m. on Saturday near Brooklyn Bridge Park. Terrified bystanders watched helplessly as the huge ship carrying nearly 300 sailors advanced towards and then crashed into the 142-year-old bridge. The impact caused the ship’s three tall masts to snap, leaving crew members hanging in the air.
According to Mexican Navy officials, a total of 22 crew members have been reported injured so far, with at least 11 of them in critical condition. Two people aboard the ship died as a result of the collision.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams weighed in on social media early Sunday morning about the deadly crash.
“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 said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the New York City Department of Transportation says the Brooklyn Bridge was not damaged from the collision and that traffic can freely flow.
Vessels moving in the nearby area have since been instructed to proceed at slow speed, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, as the Cuauhtémoc remains at Pier 36 on the East River for damage assessments and further evaluation.
The Cuauhtémoc, a training ship on an international goodwill mission, was set to disembark and was next headed to Iceland when the collision happened.
The ship was never meant to get that close to the Brooklyn bridge — it was going south to the Brooklyn waterfront for fuel before heading to Iceland to continue on that on that goodwill tour, when its pilot reported a mechanical failure and the ship lost power. The boat then drifted north, out of control.
The ship’s masts snapped as it struck the bridge’s underside, and pieces fell onto the deck. Officials say the iconic span itself did not sustain structural damage. All lanes on the bridge reopened after a brief closure following the collision.
The authorities said that 277 people were aboard the ship, and that nobody fell into the water, even as some sailors were left dangling from harnesses on the masts after the crash.
At least 19 people were injured, 4 seriously, after a Mexican Navy boat on a training cruise crashed into the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge, officials say.
The victims were being taken away on stretchers at Pier 17 at South Street Seaport.
The National Transportation Safety Board is on site and will begin its investigation, but preliminary information shows it was likely a mechanical issue with the sailboat, according to officials.
Witness videos capture the ship’s ominous approach toward the bridge. In one video, a woman filming the ship, which was festooned with amber lights and a giant Mexican flag, can be heard wondering aloud if the ship might collide with the bridge. When the ship’s mast strikes the bottom of the bridge, she screams, “It crashed! It crashed!” in Spanish, and then, in English, as the ship continues to approach the Dumbo shore, “Stop! Stop!”
“Oh my God,” she continues in English, and then, in Spanish, she says, “It crashed, it crashed. Run away from there,” referring to people gathered on a pier where the ship seemed about to hit.
ABC News contributor John Nance discusses what we know so far after a Mexican Navy ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge.
NYPD Harbor Unit and SCUBA were among the first responders who converged on the scene.
The Mexican ship was described as a “goodwill vessel” that had plied the waters since 1982.
The Cuauhtémoc is about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide, according to the Mexican Navy. The vessel’s main mast has a height of 160 feet, according to the Mexican government.
Each year, the ship sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training. This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6, the navy said.
“Thousands of people came to see the ship,” said Maria Mejia. The ship, now diminished and docked at Pier 36 drew visitors all week at the Seaport — right until it left.
The Mexican consulate said on May 13 on X that the Cuauhtémoc, also called the “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas,” arrived that day and docked at Pier 17. It invited people to visit through May 17.
The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.
It also had planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days, 170 of them at sea.
Members of New York City’s Mexican community prayed for the families in mourning and for the recovery of those injured.
“As a community, we just want to say that we’re here for them,” Mejia added.
An NTSB team is now on board. The agency says its investigative team includes experts in nautical operations and marine and bridge engineering.
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
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