Two people are dead after a Mexican naval ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.
There were 277 people on board the Cuauhtémoc ship when it made contact with the suspension bridge and snapped all three of its masts. While all on board managed to remain on the ship during the crash, 22 were injured, and two died.
Mexican Navy Secretary Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shared their condolences with the families. The victims have been identified as Cadet América Yamilet Sánchez and Cadet Adal Jair Marcos.
While Mexican authorities are investigating what caused the crash, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has also opened an investigation.
“The NTSB team is assembling in New York City to conduct a safety investigation into the Mexican Navy training ship, Cuauhtémoc, striking the Brookyln Bridge on Saturday,” the board wrote on X. “The multidisciplinary investigative team is comprised of experts in nautical operations, marine and bridge engineering and survival factors.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pointed a finger at the Trump administration.
“I’m fighting for answers about whether Trump and DOGE have impacted water traffic control. We know they’ve been meddling with U.S. Coast Guard staffing,” Schumer wrote on X. “Trump relieved Admiral Linda Fagan as Commandant of the USCG, and that position is still vacant. And the hiring freeze has limited the ability for the USCG to staff up the Vehicle Traffic Service, that’s their traffic control operation that acts like Air Traffic Control but on water.”
The Department of Homeland Security countered Schumer online.
“Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE. The US Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes,” the department said. “Additionally, this incident had nothing to do with Vessel Traffic Services — when a ship loses propulsion in a high current area, the vessel needs to engage all capabilities to stop and ideally tugs are nearby to support. We encourage Minority Leader Schumer to get his facts straight before he misleads the American people.”
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One hundred seventy-two cadets and two officials who were on board have since been transported to a port in Veracruz, Mexico. Meanwhile, the Cuauhtémoc remains in port in New York City as it is inspected.
The crew was on its way to Iceland when the crash happened.
