Two people have died and dozens more injured after a Mexican navy training ship collided with New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, according to officials.
The vessel involved, the Cuauhtémoc, is an academy training ship operated by the Mexican navy. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the navy confirmed that the ship sustained damage in the crash.
Eyewitness video posted online shows the ship's mast — flying a large Mexican flag — scraping the underside of the bridge before the vessel drifted toward the riverbank, prompting onlookers to scatter from the shoreline.
Naval cadets, dressed in white uniforms, were seen clinging to the ship’s crossbeams in the aftermath of the collision.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that two people had died as a result of the incident.
Earlier, the Mexican navy announced that 22 people on board had been injured. Of those, 19 were receiving treatment in local hospitals and three were reported to be seriously hurt. Eyewitnesses told the Associated Press they saw two people being taken off the ship on stretchers.
No one is believed to have fallen into the water.
Mayor Adams said a “unified effort” was underway to “make sure that we look after all of those who were on the ship.”
The New York Police Department said the ship lost power before crashing into the bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge has since reopened, with no major structural damage reported.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that the National Transportation Safety Board would now lead the investigation.
The Cuauhtémoc is approximately 297 feet long and 40 feet wide. According to the Mexican navy, it was first launched in 1982 and sets sail each year at the end of the academic term to complete naval cadet training.
The vessel departed from the Mexican port of Acapulco on 6 April with 277 people on board. It arrived in New York on 13 May and was scheduled to visit 22 ports across 15 countries during a 254-day voyage, 170 of which would be spent at sea.
Stops included Kingston in Jamaica, Havana in Cuba, Cozumel in Mexico, Reykjavik in Iceland, and several French ports including Bordeaux, Saint-Malo, and Dunkirk. The itinerary also included Aberdeen in Scotland and other locations across Europe.
The Mexican consulate described the Cuauhtémoc on social media last week as the “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas.”
