Mexican ship collides with Brooklyn Bridge, two killed

A Mexican navy sailing ship on a global goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday night snapping its three masts fatally injuring two crew members and leaving some sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for helpNew York City Mayor Eric Adams said the 142yearold bridge was spared major damage but at least 19 people aboard the ship needed medical treatment after the crashTwo of the four people who suffered more serious injuries later died Adams announced on social media early Sunday morningThe cause of the collision was under investigationIn a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos the ship called the Cuauhteacutemoc could be seen travelling swiftly toward the bridge near the Brooklyn side of the East River Then its three masts struck the bridges main span and snapped one by one as the ship kept movingVideos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the 820 pm collisionThe vessel which was flying a giant green white and red Mexican flag and had 277 people aboard then drifted toward the piers lining the riverbank as onlookers scrambled awaySailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts but remarkably no one fell into the water officials saidSydney Neidell and Lily Katz told The Associated Press they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge Looking closer they saw someone dangling from high on the shipldquoWe saw someone dangling and I couldnt 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 themrdquo Katz saidJust before the collision Nick Corso 23 took his phone out to capture the backdrop of the ship and the bridge against a sunset Instead he heard what sounded like the loud snapping of a ldquobig twigrdquo Several more snaps followedPeople in his vicinity began running back and ldquopandemoniumrdquo on the boat erupted he said He later saw a handful of people dangling from the mastldquoI didnt know what to think I was like is this a movierdquo he saidThe Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhteacutemoc was an academy training vessel It said a total of 22 people were injured 19 of whom needed medical treatmentThe Brooklyn Bridge which opened in 1883 has a nearly 1600foot 490meter main span supported by two masonry towers More than 100000 vehicles and an estimated 32000 pedestrians cross every day according to the citys transportation department Its walkway is a major tourist attractionTraffic was halted after the collision but was allowed to resume after an inspection city officials saidIt was unclear what caused the ship to veer off course New York Police Department Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles said the ship had just left a Manhattan pier and was supposed to have been headed out to sea not toward the bridgeHe said an initial report was that the pilot of the ship had lost power due to a mechanical problem though officials cautioned that information was preliminary Videos show a tugboat was close to the Cuauhteacutemoc at the time of the crashThe Cuauhteacutemoc about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide 905 metres long and 12 metres wide according to the Mexican navy mdash sailed for the first time in 1982The vessels main mast has a height of 489 metres according to the Mexican governmentAs midnight approached the broken boat was moved slowly up the East River going under and past the Manhattan Bridge aided by a series of tugboats before docking at a pier Onlookers continued to gather on the waterfront to watch the spectacleEach year the Cuauhteacutemoc 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 saidIt arrived in New York City on May 13 where visitors were welcome for several days the Mexican consulate said The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations over 254 days 170 of them at seaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params