Two people died and more than a dozen others were injured when a historic Mexican naval training ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on Saturday night, Mayor Eric Adams said.
Twenty-one people were injured, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said early Sunday, and were taken to shore via small boat before being transferred to a hospital. Adams had previously said on X that 19 were hurt, two were in critical condition “and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries.”
Others were checked out, and divers were probing waters at the scene as a precaution, three police sources with knowledge of the incident said earlier.
Adams said at a news conference Saturday night that the tall ship with 277 people on board suffered a mechanical mishap that caused it to veer into the bridge as it had set sail from Pier 17 en route to sea.
“The pilot lost power of the ship,” he said, adding that two crew members were on a mast and were injured in the collision.
Chief Wilson Aramboles of the New York Police Department’s Special Operations Division said the collision happened about 8:20 p.m.
Inspectors were immediately dispatched to assess the condition of the bridge, the police sources said. New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said the head of bridge division was at the scene, with a preliminary assessment concluding there were no signs of major damage.
Adams said the bridge was open.
Commercial traffic in the area was suspended, and the Coast Guard’s Sector New York established a “safety zone” from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge, the Coast Guard spokesperson said.
No one fell into the water, officials said at the news conference. The ship was ultimately headed to Iceland, Aramboles said.
Video from the scene showed two masts from the ship, lit up in incandescent colors as night fell, striking the bridge, with people on the mast hanging on.
Another video before the bridge strike showed around 80 people standing across the ship’s masts, seemingly secured via harnesses. The Coast Guard spokesperson said the boat lost all three masts during the crash.
Witnesses interviewed by NBC New York said the boat, which at least one said was no stranger to the East River and local waters, appeared to have a party-like atmosphere with music.
On shore after the collision, paramedics were seen wheeling away some of the injured on stretchers, some wearing neck braces. Onlookers could be heard chanting, “Mexico! Mexico!”
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, a Mexican ambassador to the U.S., at the news conference identified the ship as ARM Cuauhtémoc, a historic Mexican Navy training vessel.
Though it’s listed as a sailing ambassador for Mexico for next year’s Sail4th 250 celebrations, a spokesperson for the event said in a statement Saturday night that the “Mexican Tall Ship Cuauhtémoc is not one of the ships committed thus far to participate in next year’s Sail4th 250 event.”
The spokesperson continued, “Chris O’Brien, President of Sail4th 250, is deeply saddened by what he’s learning about this evening’s collision and is following the news with the injured sailors in his prayers.”
The city’s Seaport Museum on Pier 17 hosted the ship through Saturday, with public viewing scheduled during its five-day stay.
The New York City-area Sail4th 250 events will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, with what is being billed as the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships from around the world.
The UK nonprofit Sail Training International describes the vessel a being built in Bilbao, Spain, in 1981 and originally called “Celaya.”
“She was later acquired by the Mexican Navy as a training vessel for officers, cadets, petty officers and sailors,” according to the group. “Cuauhtemoc sailed the world for thirteen years and in 1995 underwent a major refit of the ship and rigging.”
The New York Police Department said it was investigating the incident. Officials at the news conference said the National Transportation Safety Board would also probe the cause of the collision.
Police asked people to stay away from the area of the bridge and nearby streets.
