Navy cadet killed after ship struck Brooklyn Bridge

A woman who died after a navy ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City has been pictured and named for the first time. América Yamilet Sánchez, a navy cadet, was reportedly standing on top of Cuauhtémoc ship’s masts when it suffered a mechanical issue and crashed into the iconic bridge after the captain lost control (Picture: AP/Facebook)

Just hours before the crash, América was pictured enjoying a night out in New York City. The 20-year-old, from Xalapa, Mexico, posted a photograph of herself online hours before she died. She is seen leaning against a railing, smiling, and wrote the letters ‘NY’ with a heart emoji on the post. A second person was also killed in the incident (Picture: Getty)

Dozens of onlookers filmed the moment the sailing ship, which was about to leave for a goodwill tour to Iceland, instead collided with New York landmark. 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 (Picture: REUTERS)

The cause of the collision near the Brooklyn side of the East River is under investigation, but city officials said there had been ‘some sort of mechanical issue’. More than a dozen people were injured in the incident. The ship, travelling from Acapulco, Mexico, was carrying 277 people on the Bicentennial of the Consolidation of Independence at Sea tour before setting sail to Iceland (Picture: Getty Images)

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 (Picture: Shutterstock)

A senior official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN: ‘It was the current that took it under the bridge, it wasn’t supposed to be headed in that direction. They had some sort of mechanical issue, they lost power so without being able to use the rudder, they could not steer.’ However the official also cautioned that their information is preliminary and could change as the investigation continues (Picture: REUTERS)

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 (Picture: Deccio Serrano/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

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 (Picture: AP /Yuki Iwamura)

‘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’