May 18 (UPI) -- Two people are dead after a Mexican Navy training vessel crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night, snapping the ship's three masts and leaving some crew members hanging high above the water waiting for rescuers to arrive.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference that night the boat struck the bridge due to a mechanical mishap.
"The pilot lost power of the ship," he told reporters.
Adams said the 142-year old bridge did not sustain major damage, but at least 19 people of the 277 aboard the vessel needed medical attention. The bridge was closed for about 40 minutes after the ship accident, according to a post on X from NYC's official emergency notification system.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board arrived Sunday afternoon.
Witnesses said the vessel, named the Cuauhtemoc, was traveling rapidly in reverse along the East River on the Brooklyn side and hit the bridge, snapping its three masts one at a time as the boat kept moving. No one on the bridge was reported to have been injured.
Documents obtained by CNN show the height of Cuauhtemoc ship was around 30 feet higher than Brooklyn Bridge clearance at 127 feet. The ship is around 300 feet long and 160 tall, according to a news release from Ocean Adventure Foundation in Australia.
Ship traffic was heavy on the river when the collision occurred at about 8:20 p.m. EDT, WNBC-TV video showed.
The ship, flying a large Mexican flag, drifted into a pier on the riverbank. The boat's masts were strung with white lights, which crumpled and fell in succession as they struck the bridge.
"No one fell into the water, they were all hurt inside the ship," NYPD Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles said at the news conference. "The ship, from what I was informed by the supervisors of the ship, it was disembarking and going to Iceland."
Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum said on X that the country was in solidarity with the family members of the two crew members who died in the accident and was mourning their loss. Gov. Rocio Nahle identified one of the victims as cadet America Yamilet Sanchez in an post on X. The other fatality was a sailor.
Most crew members of the Mexican sailing ship were going to fly back to Mexico with a few remaining on boat, a source told CNN.
The ship was docked at the South Street Seaport Museum for five days of public viewing, according to the museum's website.
Ships sailing around Pier 36 on the East River have been asked to "proceed at slow speed." NYPD is providing around-the-clock patrols in the safety zone.
The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and spans 1,660 feet across the East River and is supported by two masonry towers. Roughly 100,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day, along with 32,000 pedestrians, according to the city's transportation department. The bridge has long been a major tourist attraction.
