Victims ID'ed In Brooklyn Bridge Boat Crash: Reports

NEW YORK — The two crew members killed when a Mexican Navy sailing ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday were identified Sunday by Mexican officials and media.

América Yamilet Sánchez of Veracruz was identified by the state’s governor, Rocío Nahle, in a social media post translated from Spanish by Google.

“My love, support, and solidarity go out to her family,” Nahle wrote. “My gratitude to the @SEMAR_mx and my wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured. Veracruz is with you.”

The 20-year-old sailor, who was studying engineering at the Mexican naval academy, died after falling from one of the ship’s masts, her aunt, María del Rosario Hernández Jacome, said Sunday at the family's home in Xalapa.

The other victim was identified as Adal Jair Marcos of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca, according to an article published by the local media outlet Quadratin Oaxaca translated from Spanish by Google. He was a crew member for the vessel’s international training tour to over 20 ports, the outlet reported.

The crash occurred around 8:20 p.m. after the ship, called The Cuauhtémoc, lost power, authorities said, adding at least 17 were injured in addition to the two fatalities. The bridge was not damaged.

The Cuauhtémoc, a sail-training tall ship, arrived in New York this past week and had been docked at Pier 17. Free tours were being offered of the boat, with the final tour running from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Videos shared on social media show the masts collapsing after hitting the bridge. Onlookers can be heard gasping as they watch the crash before the boat continues under the bridge.

The Cuauhtémoc sailed for the first time in 1982. It is almost 300 feet long and its main mast has a height of 160 feet, about 30 feet higher than the span of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.