Two sailors tragically lost their lives when a Mexican navy tall ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in rough East River waters recently. The National Transportation Safety Board is now on the case, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. The two sailors who perished in the crash have been identified as 20-year-old América Yamilet Sánchez and 23-year-old Jair Maldonado Marcos. They were among the 277 crew members on board when the ship slammed into the bridge, causing three masts to topple and sending several sailors plunging into the water.
Sánchez, who was studying engineering at the Mexican naval academy, was one of the sailors on the mast at the time of the collision, according to her family. Earlier on that fateful Saturday, she had excitedly told her mother that the ship’s next stop would be Iceland. Devastated by the news of her daughter’s passing, Sánchez’s parents traveled to Mexico City to make arrangements for her body to be returned home. Family and friends gathered at their home, bringing flowers and setting up a small altar with a photo of Sánchez and candles to honor her memory. The tragic incident also left two other individuals seriously injured, with over a dozen more sustaining various degrees of injuries.
Experts have noted that the situation could have been even more catastrophic if not for the ship’s steel rigging, which prevented the masts from collapsing into the water. Additionally, the crew’s decision to stay harnessed in position rather than risking a dangerous fall from a significant height helped avert further tragedy. The Cuauhtemoc, which had been visiting New York as part of a global goodwill tour involving 15 nations, was departing when it collided with the Brooklyn Bridge around 8:20 p.m. The impact briefly halted traffic on the bridge, though fortunately, the 142-year-old structure did not sustain major damage. The Cuauhtemoc, a nearly 300-foot-long vessel with a main mast standing at 160 feet tall (30 feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge span), first set sail in 1982, making it a relatively young ship in maritime terms.
Not really sure why this matters, but the Cuauhtemoc visited New York as part of a 15-nation global goodwill tour and was leaving the city when it bumped into the bridge around 8:20 p.m. Traffic on the bridge had to take a quick break due to the collision, but thankfully, the old bridge managed to escape any major harm. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the details about the ship’s dimensions add a cool factor to the whole story. It’s almost like a giant floating skyscraper cruising the seas, except this one had a bit of a run-in with a famous bridge. But hey, accidents happen, right? At least the experts are praising the crew for their quick thinking and preventing an even bigger disaster.