Two lifeless as Mexican Navy ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge

Two individuals have been killed and no less than 19 others injured after a tall Mexican Navy coaching crusing ship crashed into New York Metropolis’s Brooklyn Bridge, the town mayor has stated.

Eric Adams stated the Cuauhtémoc misplaced energy earlier than the collision on Saturday night. US officers stated 277 individuals had been on board the vessel, which was on a goodwill go to.

Footage exhibits the Cuauhtémoc’s towering masts clipping the bridge because the ship was passing beneath the well-known construction on Saturday night.

Crew members had been standing on the masts on the time of collision, authorities stated, which all snapped and fell to the deck.

New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams stated on X that two individuals died and 19 had been injured, two of whom had been in crucial situation. A complete of 277 individuals had been on board.

Brooklyn Bridge didn’t undergo any main injury and was reopened after a preliminary inspection.

Police stated they believed “mechanical points” and an influence reduce had triggered the ship to collide with one of many pillars of the bridge.

The New York Coast Guard stated the Cuauhtémoc misplaced all three masts and all personnel on the ship had been accounted for. Nobody had fallen within the water.

Crowds fled from the water’s edge because the masts collided with the bridge.

There was “panic on the ship”, stated Brooklyn resident Nick Corso, who was standing close by.

He instructed AFP there was “a lot of screaming, some sailors hanging from the masts”.

One other witness, Kelvin Flores, instructed the BBC he was at work when he noticed the crash.

He got here out into the road to seek out a variety of “commotion and a variety of chaos” with hearth engines and police making an attempt to succeed in the scene however the roads clogged with site visitors.

“Simply seeing the precise injury was insane,” he stated. “Folks carrying stretchers… they had been making an attempt to get the injured out.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum stated she was deeply saddened by the lack of two crew members within the accident.

The Cuauhtémoc was towed from the scene after the crash.

The vessel, which measures 297 toes lengthy (91m) and 40 toes (12m) large, in keeping with the Mexican navy, sailed for the primary time in 1982.

Every year it units sail on the finish of courses on the naval army faculty to complete cadets’ coaching.

This 12 months it left the Mexican port of Acapulco on 6 April, the navy stated. Its closing vacation spot was meant to be Iceland.

Reuters reported its masts had been 45m (147ft). The New York transport division’s web site lists the bridge as having a 135ft clearance at its centre.