By Michelle Watson, Hanna Park, CNN
(CNN) — Just before 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, several onlookers in Brooklyn were enjoying one of New York City’s sunnier days, when they witnessed a Mexican Navy training ship hit the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge, resulting in two fatalities and injuries to over a dozen people.
“We could see some people being kind of dragged,” an eyewitness, Flavio Moreira, told CNN. “I believe it was some of the staff, they were on the top of the boat. And they were swinging around, back and forth as soon as the ship hit the bridge.”
The allision of the Cuauhtémoc, the Mexican Navy training ship, with the Brooklyn Bridge comes just 16 months after a massive cargo ship plowed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024.
The Singaporean-flagged container vessel, named Dali, lost power—just like the Cuauhtémoc—and veered off course, smashing into the bridge and killing six construction workers.
Mayor Eric Adams said he was praying for all 277 passengers who were on board, their families, and he thanked the first responders who sprang into action to prevent further damage.
Here’s what we know:
How the scene unfolded
The ship had just departed New York’s Pier 17 when the incident occurred around 8:20 p.m. The boat had previously been docked at the South Street Seaport Museum for five days of public viewing. It was on a global goodwill tour and en route to Iceland at the time of the incident Saturday night, officials said.
Authorities began responding to the area around 8:26 p.m. after receiving multiple 911 calls, a New York City Police Department spokesperson said.
At least two of those injured were listed as critical according to Adams. The Mexican Navy said earlier a total of 22 people were injured, 19 of whom were taken to hospitals.
A preliminary investigation by several authorities including the NYPD’s Special Operations Division, the Fire Department of New York, the US Coast Guard, and the New York City Department of Transportation determined that the boat, “experienced a mechanical malfunction,” the NYPD said.
The boat was also moving in the “wrong direction,” a senior city official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. As it made its way out of the harbor, the ship was supposed to make a stop at a Bay Ridge fueling dock before heading out to sea on its way to Iceland, the official said.
“It was the current that took it under the bridge,” the person said. “It wasn’t supposed to be headed in that direction.”
According to the senior official, Cuauhtémoc’s captain has told investigators he lost steering of the vessel after the rudder stopped working.
“They had some sort of mechanical issue, they lost power so without being able to use the rudder, they could not steer,” the official said, cautioning all information is preliminary and subject to change.
More than 100 fire and emergency medical service personnel responded to the scene, FDNY said in an email. There was no visible damage to the Brooklyn Bridge, which appeared to be left structurally intact and was temporarily closed in both directions for about 40 minutes after the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a “go-team” team to New York, according to a post Sunday by the agency’s X account as the agency intends to investigate. The team on the ground “is comprised of experts in nautical operations, marine and bridge engineering and survival factors,” the agency said.
The voyage data recorder will provide crucial information about what went wrong, one transportation expert told CNN.
The data recorder will likely provide investigators with information about both the ship’s mechanics, including any “control input” and when power may have been lost, said Mary Schiavo, CNN transportation analyst and former US Department of Transportation inspector general. It may also provide information about the river itself, such as the water’s depth and its currents.
Investigators may already have that information and be in the process of reviewing it, Schiavo said. They will also need to examine whether communication was lost at any point, she added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that investigators must determine if budget cuts and program cancellations by the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency contributed in any way to the ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge.
“I have the general sense of a DOGE dysfunction in parts of the Coast Guard,” Schumer said at a news conference on the federal budget. “We know that there has been meddling by the Trump administration into the Coast Guard staffing, and now we need to know how this meddling might have impacted the events of last night, from a command, communication and local coordination level.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The victims
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Sunday that a cadet and a sailor died after the incident.
The governor of Veracruz state identified one of the victims as cadet América Yamilet Sánchez. In a social media post, Gov. Rocío Nahle said she “deeply” laments the passing of Sánchez, a native of Xalapa, the capital city of Veracruz.
The local city council of San Mateo del Mar, in neighboring Oaxaca state, in southern Mexico, identified the second victim as Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos. In a Facebook post, the city council said they lamented the passing of the sailor and expressed their “heartfelt condolences to his family and other loved ones.”
Family and friends gathered at Sánchez’s home in Xalapa on Sunday to honor the 21-year-old naval cadet. The incident has left her loved ones demanding answers.
“It’s impossible for something so serious to not be thoroughly investigated,” Gael de la Cruz, a relative of Sánchez, told Reuters. “What happened there is illogical. There must be someone responsible.”
Sánchez’s mother, Rocio Hernandez, told Reuters she is in communication with US authorities regarding the repatriation of her daughter’s body.
“The US coroner already told me that yes, everything is ready … and I’m waiting for that,” she said.
Mexican President Sheinbaum sent her condolences to families of the two crew members killed, saying, she was deeply saddened by the losses.
“Our sympathy and support go out to their families,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X early Sunday.
Sheinbaum said the Mexican Navy is supporting those injured in the incident, and that the Mexican ambassador to the United States and Mexican Consulate General were supporting the navy.
“We are monitoring the situation, and the Secretary of the Navy will continue to provide updates,” she added.
The Cuauhtémoc and its history
The Cuauhtémoc, known as the “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas,” is a training sailing ship of the Mexican Navy and a diplomatic symbol of Mexico abroad.
Named after the last Aztec emperor, who was executed by the Spanish conquerors in 1525, it was built in Spain in 1981 and acquired by the Mexican Navy to train cadets and officers. It regularly takes part in major regattas around the world. The sailing ship was used for training by the Heroic Naval Military School, an elite military academy in Mexico, according to a news release.
The ship, as of last year, had visited 212 ports in 64 countries with 756,085 nautical miles sailed, the latter equivalent to making 35 trips around the world, the release said. It was now on its yearly training tour for the graduating class of 2025.
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CNN’s Nouran Salahieh, Mark Morales, Lauren Mascarenhas, Mauricio Torres, Chris Boyette, Gloria Pazmino, Diego Mendoza, Zenebou Sylla, and Helen Regan contributed to this report.
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