Mexican naval ship rams into Brooklyn Bridge, killing two and injuring 19

A towering Mexican naval sailing ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening during a festive journey down New York City’s East River, snapping two of its masts and killing two crew members, officials said.
Nineteen others were injured, and two remained in critical condition, Mayor Eric Adams said shortly after midnight Sunday. The injured were all also crew members, according to the Mexican government.
The captain of the ARM Cuauhtémoc lost control of the vessel after a mechanical failure, and the ship struck one of the bridge’s pillars, said Wilson Aramboles, the chief of special operations for the New York Police Department. Adams said the ship lost power before the crash.
The Cuauhtémoc, a roughly 150-foot-tall Mexican naval ship built more than 40 years ago in Spain, was shown in social media videos drifting along the river when it slowly crashed into the bridge, causing two of its masts to break and dangle in the air. The ship had attracted the attention of admirers before the crash, its brightly lit string lights, Mexican flags and dozens of white sails glowing against the evening skyline. Some fled the walkway along the water as the ship ground to a halt.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said it was an “unfortunate accident.” Lincoln Restler, a New York City council member whose district includes the Brooklyn side of the bridge, called it “exceptionally reckless and negligent.” The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
The two people in critical condition were transferred to the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, Adams said. There were 277 people on the vessel at the time of the accident, he said.
The ship struck the bridge at 8:26 p.m., said Stephen Rhine, a spokesman for the New York Fire Department. The bridge did not suffer significant damage and was reopened Saturday night after a preliminary inspection. The top of the ship’s main mast and the mizzen mast – at the rear of the vessel – were destroyed, according to Breanna Boardman, a public affairs official for the Coast Guard.
The Mexican Navy said in a post on X that it is reviewing the crash in collaboration with local authorities. The ship – a three-mast barque used for training in the Mexican navy – was on its way to Iceland, officials said.
“We were yelling. Everybody was yelling,” said Marisol Cortes, who was at the pier with her family.
Her 14-year-old son, Arturo Acatitla, said he saw one of the crew members, who was covered in blood, being brought out on a stretcher and given CPR.
The Cuauhtémoc has made several voyages to far-flung places in recent years, including Japan and South Korea. The crash happened not long after the ship embarked after spending several days docked at Pier 17 in Lower Manhattan.
“The ship is a goodwill vessel that has been on the waters for more than 20 years sharing Mexican culture,” said Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, the Mexican ambassador to the United States.
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Video: A Mexican naval sailing ship on New York City’s East River crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on the evening of May 17.© 2025 , The Washington Post
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