Brooklyn Bridge hit by Mexican navy training ship, 2 dead, 19 injured, officials say
Two people died and more than a dozen were hurt when a Mexican navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday in New York City, officials said.
In a news conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said 277 were on board the vessel sailing the East River when it collided with the bridge just before 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Adams said at least 19 people were hurt and four suffered serious injuries. He later announced two of them died.
"No one fell into the water, they were all hurt inside the ship," NYPD Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles said. "...The ship, from what I was informed by the supervisors of the ship, it was disembarking and going to Iceland."
The New York City Department of Transportation reported in a post to social media that bridge inspectors had so far found "no signs of structural damage to the Brooklyn Bridge."
Ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge
A masted Mexican Navy training ship, the Cuauhtémoc, sits stranded after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge after, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York.
Kyle Viterbo / AP
The Mexican navy said in a post on social media that the Cuauhtemoc was damaged during a sailing maneuver.
Adams said in a social media post the Cuauhtemoc lost power before it crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge.
Videos posted online showed the ship apparently drifting backward before all three masts hit the bridge and broke apart.
Some sailors could be seen dangling by wires from near of the top of the ship after it struck the bridge. The main mast of the 297-foot long ship is 160 feet tall.
"I guess it was, the pilot that is assigned to navigate, you know, the boat out of the water, I believe there was some mechanical issues that probably caused the ship to hit the water," Aramboles said.
Pedestrians walking along Brooklyn Bridge Park look on as a masted Mexican Navy training ship sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (Nick Corso via AP)
Nick Corso / AP
Witnesses reported hearing a loud crunch followed by screams.
"All of the sudden we heard tons of screaming coming from this massive crowd that was here," Torrey Leonard said. "Our hearts were skipping a beat because it was just horrible, how it sounded. We heard like this wood crunch. We then stood up from dinner right here and looked at the bridge and we saw what everybody's already seen happen. Which was just horrifying."
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Mexican ambassador to the U.S., told reporters the ship has been sailing for about 20 years and was headed from Cozumel, Mexico, to Iceland. The ship arrived in New York City on May 13.
Police urged people to avoid the area around the bridge, including the South Street Seaport in Manhattan and DUMBO in Brooklyn. The bridge had been temporarily shut down to traffic, but has since reopened.
The bridge originally opened in 1883 and has a nearly 1,600-foot main span.
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Kennebunk High grads told to take risks: 'You have the power to change the world'
KENNEBUNK — Kennebunk High School Valedictorian Emilia Ilyas remembers when the question of her future shifted from fantasy to 'evoking anxiety.' 'I unfortunately had to accept that I would never live in a castle,' Ilyas said. Ilyas, speaking to 168 of her classmates at their graduation ceremony on June 8, said much of life is too focused on the future. She encouraged students to embrace the moment on the school's football field as they prepared to stand and receive their diplomas as the Class of 2025. 'Yes, we're actually graduating. It's real. And it's fleeting,' Ilyas said. 'Let's not forget to be here before we go out there.' A total of 174 students graduated from Kennebunk High School this year, and 169 chose to walk, according to Principal Scott Tombleson. Students gathered on the field in front of friends and loved ones as they turned their tassels and tossed their caps. Superintendent Terri Cooper told students that Sunday marked 'not an ending, but a beginning.' She told students to take risks, travel to 'places that scare and excite' them, and apply for their dream job. 'You have the power to change the world,' Cooper said, 'Whether through grand gestures or quiet moments of compassion.' Kennebunk High School graduate Cooper Thompson told students they grew not just academically, but in their ability to adapt and lead through change. He said students have seen their school evolve over the past four years, welcoming new teachers, coaches, assistant principals, and even a new principal in Tombleson this past year. Every year brought a different rhythm, new expectations, and fresh faces, he said. 'Through it all, we didn't just adjust, but we thrived,' Thompson said. 'That speaks to who we are as a class – resilient, flexible and strong.' The day's faculty speaker, history and social studies teacher Rebecca Moy, put a focus on sports as she described the passion with which she has followed the Oakland Raiders since she was a child. She said sports bring out the best in people who strive to compete. She encouraged students to pursue their passions with the same effort many athletes show in athletics. 'To love sports is to understand the value of competition in testing your personal limits and to make a stand for what you've trained for or what you believe in,' Moy said. She concluded her speech, 'This is about the sincere gratitude I have for those graduates who have allowed me to be a part of your lives and let me share the passions I have.' More: Kennebunk High School names top 10% students in Class of 2025 The day marked Kennebunk High School's 150th graduation. Tombleson, hired in August 2024, said he did not take lightly his role as one of about 20 principals who have led the school. Tombelson described the history of Kennebunk 150 years ago — how shipbuilding was in decline in Maine while tourism was on the rise. He spoke about how the first Kennebunk High School graduation might have had families in town for the graduation staying at the Ocean Bluffs Hotel on Cape Arundel, overlooking Walker's Point, 'having no idea the global significance that small spit of land would one day hold.' (It was and still is owned by the Bush family, who produced two presidents of the United States.) Tombelson said they could not have imagined the student body and its community gathering in 2025. At the time, 150 years ago, Alexander Graham Bell had only just invented the telephone. At the June 8 ceremony, students took photos with their cell phones. To build on his point about history, Tombleson asked everyone who graduated from Kennebunk High School to stand up. He then asked those who graduated before the year 2015 to remain standing, then continued to count back each decade until no more were standing. The numbers went back to the 1960s before every person was sitting, the last met with loud applause. 'Together, we can build across generations,' Tombleson said. 'Together, we can renew our hope and faith in the life that is yet to unfold.' Alexis Vetrano Lucia Collin Reigosa Shay Smithwick Tru Jarvis Melody Rousselle Lila Turley Nova Genest Megan Ames James Bertus Trudo Noah Richardson Emilie Barter Dominique Owen Willow Knowles Caroline Tabor Kathryn Manning Emilia Ilyas Logan Lefebvre Emily Dube Thomas Morin Mykyta Vykhodtsev Ella Beals William Turgeon Elijah Blanchard Collin Reetz Parker Plourde Ethan Burr Charles Majkowski Alexandros Cartwright Phoenix Williams Hank Flynn Ainsley Harden Philip Dyer William McMann Aaron Rosen Luis Roberts Jacob Ghans Ryan Clark Sarah Vargonen Alexandria White Gray Rogers Skylar Holder Emma Orendorf Katherine Orendorf Donovan Kendrick Jonas Adams Alexander Adams Benjamin Johnson Norah McLeod Sasha Altshule Taylor Giles Talia Kellum Juliann Pike Anna Fox Maximilian Prosenc Elan Keys Cooper Samson Samuel Haley Finley Knappe Mekhi Gillard Finneas Coldreck Jordann Gilpatric Eliza Herring Owen Swain Connor Therrien Riley Pelletier Novalee Page-Auger William Eagleson Amara Roberts Annabelle Welch Kylee Caron Otto Fontaine Declan McGlashan Eva Havey Kellyn Zambrano Alexis Snow Robert Pollard Isabel Esch Makena Garriepy Mikayla Kimball Kelsey Ewing Karla Hernandez-Vinajero Cindy Perez-Vinajero Eva MacDonald Summer Shea Simone Houdlette Hannah Keene Owen Snow Jacob Emmons Eric Schoener Wyatt Boulette Gabrielle D'Orso-Palmer Grace Mitchell Anna Smiley Madelyn Smith Delaney Hanson Camryn Houle Noah Hammond Andrew Johnson Owen Quitog Samuel Pietrowicz Charley Norton Ian Pentland Anthony D'Elia Kyle Barron Marcelo Pastora Caballero Bennett Webster Maya Kimball Elizabeth Torstensen Ella Pitchforth Abigail Jenannette Lorelei Ogden Maeve Noble Nicholas Vasquez Mario Real Christopher Smith Jacob Labrador Avery Rossics Elsa Liberatore Isabella Donnery Aubree Veilleux Kaden Stevens Jenna Wright Grace O'Neil Ryan Hansen Jackson Thombs Wyatt Hafer Bronwyn Parkhurst Mya Todd Tanner Wendle Ava Kane Mason Binette Meghan Taggart Nicole Axelsen Sonja Frederich Eliza Sayer Abigaile Santerre Molly McKinney Addison Carbone Cenzie Cunningham Audrey Madden Weston Church Blake Dallara Theo Pow Benjamin Urban Kellen Connor Gavin MacDonald Isaac Jensen Calvin Johnson Jack Mosser Brady Stone Jonathan Hines Cooper Thompson Cole Perkins Willard Kull Cole Seitz Aidan Lynch Max Andrews Noah Tarring Brady Holder William Camp Jasper Raymond Shane Woloszyn Ryan Cumiskey Autumn Shaw Aurora Crone Maxwell Stewart Maddox Ralls Caleb Auriema Jacob Eon This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk High grads told to take risks and 'change the world'
