Mexican training ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge

A Mexican Navy training ship with around 200 people on board collided with the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday, leaving 19 people injured, four of them seriously, according to the local “major”.

According to Eric Adams, Mayor of New York, 19 people were injured, 4 seriously, when the Mexican sailboat crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, which did not suffer significant damage.

According to images recorded by witnesses and shared on social media, the ship's three masts broke, one after the other, as they hit the bridge, with the ship continuing to move towards a pier at the base.

“During the departure maneuver of the Cuauhtémoc sailboat in New York, a setback occurred with the Brooklyn Bridge that caused damage to the training ship, preventing, for now, the continuation of the training cruise,” reported the Mexican Ministry of the Navy (SERMAR), in a post on its official account on the social network X.

The Mexican institution indicated that both the condition of the personnel and the material on the sailboat are currently being analyzed by “naval and local authorities, who are providing support”, and promised to maintain “transparency in its operations”.

The New York Police Department also confirmed, through the same platform, that the collision is under investigation and asked people to avoid driving in the area, as “heavy traffic and a large number of emergency vehicles are expected in the vicinity”.

Although none of the sources verified the number of passengers on board the boat at the time of the incident, the Bloomberg news agency reported that there were more than 200 people on board, citing local authorities.

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reported on the social network X that its ambassador to the United States and officials at the Mexican consulate in New York are in contact with local authorities to provide assistance to the “affected cadets”, but did not mention any injuries.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a main span of nearly 1,600 feet (490 meters) supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and about 32,000 pedestrians cross it every day, according to the city's transportation department, and its walkway is a major tourist attraction.

The Cuauhtemoc — about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), according to the Mexican Navy — first sailed in 1982.

Every year, anchor is raised at the end of the term at the Mexican naval military school to complete the training of cadets.

This year, it departed from the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6, with 277 people on board, the Mexican Navy reported at the time.