Videos online showed the training vessel Cuauhtémoc as it approached the iconic bridge over the East River, close to the Brooklyn side of the span, which connects the borough with Manhattan. Its 147-foot (45-m) masts were too tall to clear the arched bridge at that point and toppled when the vessel,

Federal transportation officials have launched an investigation into why a Mexican navy tall ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge. The collision snapped the vessel’s three masts, killed two crew members and left some sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air.