Witnesses Share Horror of Brooklyn Bridge Collision: "Saw People Hanging From The Sails"

Chaos erupted when a Mexican Navy training ship, the Cuauhtemoc, collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday. The ship, carrying 277 crew members, mostly cadets, lost power and crashed into the bridge around 8:30 pm local time. The impact sheared off the top of the ship's 147-foot masts, which exceeded the bridge's 135-foot clearance. Upon collision with the New York City landmark, the ship snapped all three of its masts, killing two people and injuring 19 others. The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 1,600-foot (490-meter) main span that is supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city's transportation department, and its walkway is a major tourist attraction. The Cuauhtemoc - about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), according to the Mexican Navy - sailed for the first time in 1982. Witness Accounts:Witnesses described a terrifying scene, with screams filling the air as the ship crashed into the bridge. Some onlookers ran from the water's edge as the crippled ship drifted toward them. Elijah West, who witnessed the crash, said, "The boat was coming under the bridge, and there were sailors on top of the boat, the sails hit the bridge, and then people were falling off the boat's sails.""It was crazy. We were standing under the bridge, and we all started running. Then I saw people hanging from the sails. Police boats came around fast — about five minutes later. And then police guided the boat to the [Manhattan] bridge and started the rescue. It was a shock," he added. Another witness, Ismari Romero, recounted the moments leading up to the crash, saying they were celebrating and singing as the ship departed, but the scene quickly turned chaotic. "We were all joyful, and they departed. And when they reached the Brooklyn Bridge, I believe they hit the bridge, and the top collapsed. We were very scared. A lot of people were screaming, a lot of people were crying. They're like, ‘How is this happening? How is this possible?" Mr Romero said. Similarly, Matt Tibbitts was on a ferry heading from Dumbo to Williamsburg with friends when he realized the vessel wasn't going to clear the Brooklyn Bridge. "The people around us were kind of like, 'oh, I think that's too tall,' and then you turn and immediately just see it snap," he recounted. Describing the scene as surreal, Matt added, "You saw some people taking some big falls off those masts".Aya Asan, a 33-year-old photographer from Crown Heights, also witnessed the terrifying crash after finishing a proposal photoshoot at Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Advertisement "I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. For a moment, I thought the boat might somehow crash into the park area, where the people were. I started running away, and everyone started running … Everyone was shocked, and then we saw a lot of police and heard sirens. I saw people hanging there," Ms Asan said.