The school ship Cuauhtémoc From the Mexican Navy, this Saturday afternoon against the Brooklyn bridge, in New York, when he was about to leave the city. The one that was supposed to be a great farewell party, after a four -day scale, ended up in a tragedy difficult to explain. At least two crew members died and another 20 people were injured when the three masts of the ship were leaving one by one against the base of the most famous bridge in the city.
The cadets perched on the sticks – the largest has a height of 45 meters while the bridge catwalk has a height of 39 – were the last to realize what was going to happen. After eight in the afternoon, the ship began its Zapar maneuver. The cadets, turning their backs on the Brooklyn bridge, said goodbye to the crowd crowded in Pier 17, on Manhattan side. Seconds later, some of the boys fell as a vacuum while others were suspended from harnesses in the air.
Thousands of witnesses captured the moment on this hot afternoon with their mobile phones. The New York Firefighters were the first to go to the incident area and numerous videos on social networks captured emergency teams moving some of the injured. The authorities, so far, have ruled out that one of the sailors fell to the waters of the East River and last time on this Saturday in the area there was only the signal of a fence assigned by the pressure of the ship on the pedestrian promenade that borders the river on the shore of Brooklyn.
The mayor, Eric Adams, has assured that the bridge, with 142 years of history, has not suffered consideration damage and has indicated that one of the possible causes of the clash could be an electrical problem that caused the current to drag the ship to the pillars. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, He also regretted what happened and thanked the mayor of New York City for his support. “Our solidarity and support for families,” he said.
Moses and his wife Claudia, a Mexican marriage that has been living in the United States for 20 years, wanted to visit the ship. The atmosphere this Saturday was partying. The curious who did not want to miss the opportunity to take a picture on the deck with the Skyline In the background and, on board, the mariachi Mexican footprint group put a soundtrack to the farewell with Mexico, nice and dear and The swallowsthe popular melody that is heard in Mexico every time goodbye is said.
The Mexican ambassador to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, also participated in the party with Mexican diplomat Héctor Vasconcelos. Moctezuma after the accident that the priority of the Government of Mexico is the support to the wounded sailors, which has been given through the Mexican consulate in New York. “The school ship Cuauhtémoc It is a symbol of Mexico in the world. Today we support it with respect, with solidarity and firmly, ”he said.
Although the cause of the accident will still have to investigate, the first hypotheses point to a failure that generated a loss of power, which would have left the ship at the mercy of the force of the current and would have dragged it towards the bridge. One of the people who witnessed the exit of the ship from the ground in Pier 17 says that the trailer failed, which aims to help the ship out of the dock. “The trailer could never really push the ship,” he says.
The crew of Cuauhtémoc It consists of 64 women and 213 men. The ship sailed from the port of Acapulco on April 6 with the mission of “exalting the sailor spirit” and “bringing the message of peace and goodwill of the Mexican people.” On his journey he was going to visit 22 ports in 15 countries around the world. Before arriving in New York, he had been in Jamaica and Cuba, and now he went to Iceland. The trip included 170 days in the sea and 84 days in ports.
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