Mexican navy ship hits Brooklyn Bridge during promotional tour

A Mexican navy sailing ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday during a promotional tour in New York City, the top of its mast brushing the iconic span as it sailed through the East River.

The New York City mayor said 19 people were injured in the incident, four seriously.

In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, three masts of the ship could be seen snapping and partially collapsing as they crashed into the deck of the bridge. Videos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the collision. The vessel, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag, then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.

Pedestrians walking along Brooklyn Bridge Park look on as the training ship sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge. Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtémoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in an accident with the Brooklyn Bridge that prevented it from continuing its voyage. It added that the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.

“The secretary of the navy renews its commitment to the safety of personnel, transparency in its operations and excellent training for future officers of the Mexican Armada,” it said in Spanish.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 1,600-foot (490 metres) main span that is supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city’s transportation department, and its walkway is a major tourist attraction.

The Cuauhtémoc – about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 metres long and 12 metres wide), according to the Mexican navy – sailed for the first time in 1982. Each year it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.

The New York Fire Department confirmed authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt. Photograph: Nick Corso/AP

This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the Mexican navy said.

The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.

It had also planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days – 170 at sea and 84 in port.