Mexican Navy cadets América Yamilet Sánchez, Adal Jair Marcos ID'd as fatal victims in Brooklyn Bridge crash
One of the young Mexican Navy cadets killed in the Brooklyn Bridge ship crash was ID'd Sunday as an award-winning swimmer who posted a beaming photo of herself in front of the boat hours before the tragedy.
The other tragic dead Mexican maritime cadet was described by friends as a beloved world traveler.
The doomed mariners — America Yamilet Sanchez of Xalapa in the state of Veracruz and Adal Jair Marcos of Oaxaca — were up on the masts of Mexico's 147-foot training ship Cuauhtemoc when it lost its steering ability and smashed into the bridge shortly before 8:30 p.m.
'I deeply regret the passing of Veracruz cadet América Yamilet Sánchez,'' Veracruz Gov. Rocío Nahle García wrote on X. 'My love, support, and solidarity go out to her family.
Sanchez, a 20-year-old talented athlete from Veracruz's capital city, posted a photo of herself smiling broadly in front of the doomed vessel earlier Saturday.
She was a renowned swimmer who had won several medals in the sport, according to a report from local outlet e-Consulta Veracruz.
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Mexican navy cadet América Yamilet Sánchez, 20, ID'd as first victim in Brooklyn Bridge crash
She is thought to have arrived in New York on May 13 as part of Cuauhtémoc's international tour.
Meanwhile, Marcos, known to his friends as 'Tyson' or simply 'Marcos,' had been aboard the ship for the past nine months and had traveled the world on the high seas — from Hawaii and Tokyo to New Zealand and Australia, the Mexican outlet El Universal reported.
He was originally from Salina Cruz in Oaxaca, the outlet said.
'Two months ago you gave me a shirt from the barque team you loved the most, and now you're no longer with us,' a grieving friend wrote online. 'God bless you up there, and I hope I see you again and share lockers with you again.'
Another friend wrote that Marcos was 'more than a friend. A brother.'
The ship was taking part in a training cruise to mark the so-called 'Bicentennial of the Consolidation of the Independence of the Seas,' or the 200th anniversary of the Mexican Navy expelling the last of the Spanish strongholds from Mexico.
It had departed from the Mexican island of Cozumel off the Yucatan Peninsula on May 4 as it set off on its 170-day planned voyage set to take in 22 ports in 15 countries.
Sánchez and Marcos were among the 277 crew members on board — 213 men and 64 women who were mostly young naval cadets from the Heroica Escuela Naval Militar, the Mexican Navy's officer training academy based in the Veracruz fishing town of Antón Lizardo.
Mexico's Navy has promised to return their bodies to their loved ones as soon as possible.
More than 20 people also were injured in the accident, with as many as 11 of them in critical or serious condition, media outlets reported.
-Additional reporting by Joe Marino
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