NEW YORK (AP) — A Mexican navy 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 Fire Department press desk confirmed that authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Eyewitness video of the collision that was posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge. The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc, 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 Cuauhtemoc — about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters 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.
This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6 with 277 people onboard, the Navy said then.
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.
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