What really caused a Mexican ship to crash into Brooklyn Bridge

US safety officials launched a probe Sunday after a 150-foot tall Mexican sailing ship crashed into New York's iconic Brooklyn Bridge, snapping its masts and killing two crew members.

Numerous sailors were positioned among the navy vessel Cuauhtemoc's rigging at the time, video of the incident showed.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said early Sunday that 277 people had been on board the vessel and that two people had died from their injuries, without specifying where they were located on the vessel.

Nineteen others sustained injuries, he said, two of whom were in critical condition.

The white-hulled ship was moored Sunday along banks of the East River, its mangled masts contrasting against colorful decorations for its US departure.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on social media that it was "launching a go-team" to conduct an initial probe of the crash.

Nearby the ship, Aldo Ordonez told AFP that his sister, 24-year-old cadet Alejandra Ordonez, had been standing among the sails when the ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge.

His sister was temporarily left hanging from a sail, he said, but sustained only minor injuries and slept with others on the boat.

Aldo Ordonez arrived Sunday morning from Mexico City after seeing the accident on television.

Crew members were expected to fly home to Mexico later Sunday, he said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X that she was "deeply saddened" by the two crew members' deaths.

The ship lost power at around 8:20 pm (0020 GMT Sunday) while the captain was maneuvering the vessel, forcing it to head for a bridge abutment on the Brooklyn side, New York police chief of special operations Wilson Aramboles told a press conference.

There was "panic on the ship," Brooklyn resident Nick Corso, 23, who was standing near the water, told AFP.

He had been poised to take a photo, but when he realized what was happening he switched to video.

"Lots of screaming, some sailors hanging from the masts, looked like panic happening on the ship," he said.

The Mexican Navy said in its statement that no one had fallen into the water, and that no rescue operation had been launched.

The ship had been departing New York at the time and flags fluttered in its rigging, while an enormous Mexican flag waved off its stern.

The Cuauhtemoc, built in 1982, was sailing to Iceland when it crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge when it opened in 1883.

The incident is the second deadly ship crash into a US bridge in little over a year, after a fully laden cargo vessel smashed into a bridge in Baltimore, Maryland in March 2024, causing it to collapse and killing six road workers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HOOK Desk and is published from a syndicated feed AFP.)