Federal officials launch investigation into Mexican tall ship that struck Brooklyn Bridge

By RUTH BROWN and KYLE MARIAN VITERBO NEW YORK AP Federal transportation officers have launched an analysis into why a Mexican navy tall ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge in a collision that snapped the vessel s three masts killed two crew members and left selected sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air The ship known as the Cuauhtemoc was visiting New York on a global goodwill tour when the accident occurred Saturday evening The vessel could be seen in multiple eyewitness videos traveling swiftly in reverse toward the bridge near the Brooklyn side of the East River Then its three masts struck the bridge and snapped one by one as the ship kept moving It was unclear what caused the ship to veer off program The National Transportation Safety Board disclosed that it was sending a crew to investigate Investigators were expected to arrive Sunday afternoon New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated the -year-old bridge escaped major damage but at least people aboard the ship needed medicinal recovery Two of the four people who suffered serious injuries later died Adams revealed on social media Videos established heavy traffic on the span at the time of the p m collision No one on the bridge was hurt The vessel which was flying a giant Mexican flag and had people aboard then drifted into a pier on 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 representatives commented Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz recounted The Associated Press they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge 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 minutes before they were able to rescue them Katz revealed Just before the collision Nick Corso 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 and pandemonium erupted aboard the ship he explained He later saw a handful of people dangling from a mast I didn t know what to think I was like is this a movie he declared The Mexican navy explained in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc was a training vessel It stated a total of people were injured Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum lamented the loss of the two crew members Our solidarity and endorsement go out to their families Sheinbaum disclosed on X The Brooklyn Bridge which opened in has a nearly -foot -meter main span supported by two masonry towers More than vehicles and an estimated 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 officers noted New York Police Department Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles stated the ship had just left a Manhattan pier and was supposed to head out to sea not toward the bridge He noted an initial summary was that the ship lost power due to a mechanical trouble though administrators cautioned that the information was preliminary Videos show a tugboat was close to the Cuauhtemoc at the time of the crash As midnight approached the broken boat was moved slowly up the East River going under and past the Manhattan Bridge aided by a series of tugboats before docking at a pier Onlookers continued to gather on the waterfront to watch the spectacle Each year the Cuauhtemoc sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets training This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco on the Pacific coast on April the navy declared It arrived May in New York City where visitors were welcome for several days the Mexican consulate reported The ship was scheduled to visit ports in nations over days of them at sea The Cuauhtemoc sailed for the first time in It is almost feet long and feet wide meters long and meters wide The vessel s main mast has a height of feet meters according to Mexican navy and administration officers Associated Press writers Michael R Sisak and Jennifer Peltz in New York Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix Arizona and Gene Johnson in Seattle Washington contributed to this document