Moment Mexican navy ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge in New York leaving two dead

Shocking video shows the moment a navy ship flying the flag of Mexico crashed into one of New York’s most famous landmarks, killing two and snapping its three masts one by one.

Dozens of onlookers filmed the moment the the sailing ship, which was about to leave for a goodwill tour to Iceland, instead collided with the Brooklyn Bridge last night.

Too tall to pass underneath, the Cuauhtemoc’s masts scraped the underside of the bridge and broke, injuring crew members and leaving some dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for help.

The cause of the collision near the Brooklyn side of the East River is under investigation.

At least 19 people needed medical treatment, including four with serious injuries. The 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage.

Videos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the collision.

The vessel, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag and had 277 people aboard, then drifted towards the piers lining the riverbank as onlookers scrambled away.

Sailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts, but no one fell into the water, officials said.

Witnesses Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz said they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge.

‘We saw someone dangling, and I couldn’t tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,’ Ms Katz said.

Just before the collision, Nick Corso, 23, took his phone out to capture the backdrop of the ship and the bridge against a sunset, Instead, he heard what sounded like the loud snapping of a ‘big twig’. Several more snaps followed.

People in his vicinity began running back, and ‘pandemonium’ on the boat erupted, he said. He later saw a handful of people dangling from the mast.

‘I didn’t know what to think, I was like, is this a movie?’ he said.

In a post on X, the Mexican navy said the Cuauhtemoc was an academy training vessel. It said a total of 22 people were injured, 19 of whom needed medical treatment.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum mourned the loss of the two crew members: ‘Our solidarity and support go out to their families.’

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