NEW YORK (AP) — During a promotional tour in New York City, a Mexican navy ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, its mast coming into contact with the iconic structure as it navigated the East River.
The New York Fire Department confirmed that responders were addressing reports of injuries, though specifics were not available regarding the number of people affected or whether they were aboard the ship or present on the bridge.
Footage shared online captured the incident as the ship’s mast, adorned with a large green, white, and red Mexican flag, scraped the bridge’s underside. The vessel then veered towards the riverbank, prompting bystanders to move away from the water’s edge.
The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in an accident with the Brooklyn Bridge that prevented it from continuing its voyage.
It added that the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
“The Secretary of the Navy renews its commitment to the safety of personnel, transparency in its operations and excellent training for future officers of the Mexican Armada,” it said in Spanish.
The Cuauhtemoc — about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), according to the Mexican Navy — sailed for the first time in 1982. Each year it 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 with 277 people onboard, the Navy said then.
The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.
It had also planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days — 170 at sea and 84 in port.
