Mexican ship strikes New York's Brooklyn Bridge; 2 dead
A Mexican navy sailing ship on a global goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday night, snapping its three masts, fatally injuring two crew members and leaving some sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for help.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage but at least 19 persons aboard the ship needed medical treatment after the crash. Two of the four persons who suffered more serious injuries later died, Adams announced on social media early Sunday morning. The cause of the collision was under investigation.
In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, the ship, called the Cuauhtemoc, could be seen travelling swiftly toward the bridge near the Brooklyn side of the East River. Then, its three masts struck the bridge's main span and snapped, one by one, as the ship kept moving. Videos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the 8:20 pm collision.
Who had a pirate ship hitting the Brooklyn Bridge on their 2025 bingo card?? pic.twitter.com/R0heC40sjg
— Axiomatic Enemy of the State (@DeTocqueville14) May 18, 2025
The vessel, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag and had 277 people aboard, then drifted toward the piers lining the riverbank as onlookers scrambled away. Sailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts but, remarkably, no one fell into the water, officials said. Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz told The Associated Press they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge. Looking closer, they saw someone dangling from high on the ship. “We saw someone dangling, and I couldn't tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Katz said.
Just before the collision, Nick Corso, 23, took his phone out to capture the backdrop of the ship and the bridge against a sunset, Instead, he heard what sounded like the loud snapping of a “big twig." Several more snaps followed.
People in his vicinity began running back and “pandemonium” on the boat erupted, he said. He later saw a handful of people dangling from the mast.
“I didn't know what to think, I was like, is this a movie?” he said.
The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 1,600-foot (490-meter) main span supported by two masonry towers. More than 1,00,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city's transportation department. Its walkway is a major tourist attraction.
Traffic was halted after the collision but was allowed to resume after an inspection, city officials said.
