Mexico mourns naval cadet killed when training ship collided with Brooklyn Bridge

The broken masts of the Cuauhtemoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship, is seen after it collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

XALAPA, Mexico — Dozens of people gathered overnight in the street where one of the Mexican naval cadets who died when their training vessel hit the Brooklyn Bridge lived.

América Yamilet Sánchez, 20, was in the final year of her studies at the naval academy when she was killed aboard the naval teaching vessel Cuauhtemoc on Saturday.

A small crowd gathered near her home in the early hours of Tuesday, many holding white roses and their cellphones to illuminate the way for the hearse carrying her body.

Naval officers accompanied her arrival around midnight at the orange painted house in Veracruz’s state capital Xalapa.

Sánchez was the pride of her family, a standout student and athlete, who had already distinguished herself — scoring top marks in her naval systems engineering studies. She was a squadron leader and among those selected for the special group that accompanied President Claudia Sheinbaum at her inauguration.

“I’m going to carry you in my heart. My daughter is the pride of all of Mexico, for all the world,” Cosme Sánchez said, holding a photograph of his daughter in her dress uniform. “I’m devastated, but we’re going to move forward. My daughter was an example for everyone, she’s going to be remembered as she should be.”

Among the flower arrangements at her family’s home was one with a one with a white sash reading, “Barracudas family, with love.” It came from the local swimming school where Sánchez learned to take her first strokes a decade ago. At the naval academy she won medals and represented the institution nationally in open water swimming competitions.

Her most recent honour was being awarded a place aboard the Cuauhtemoc, which planned to visit 22 ports in 15 countries. On Saturday, she sent her parents photos, told them she loved them and spoke excitedly of the ship’s next stop: Iceland.

Sánchez was high in one of the Cuauhtemoc’s three masts Saturday night when it slid out of its dock in New York, authorities told her family. It’s a ceremonial practice to greet and pay respects entering and leaving ports. “It’s a display of discipline, skill and respect, common in training sailboats,” said her uncle, Rodolfo Hernández Sayago.

“She was the pride (of the family),” Hernández said. “My girl stood out in everything she did.”

U.S. investigators laid out a timeline Monday showing the Cuauhtemoc was underway for less than five minutes before its masts crashed into the historic span, and radio calls indicating it was in distress went out only 45 seconds before the deadly collision.

With the help of a tugboat, the Cuauhtemoc backed away from a Manhattan pier filled with cheering people at 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, U.S. officials said.

Four minutes after the ship left, a radio call went out asking for help from any additional tugboats in the area, followed by other requests for assistance, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brian Young told a media briefing Monday. Forty-five seconds after the first call, the ship, struck the bridge, snapping its three masts.

After a few minutes, the ship separated from the tug and picked up speed, still moving in reverse, heading for the bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge escaped major damage but at least 19 of the ship’s 277 sailors needed medical treatment, according to officials.

Seven officers and 172 cadets who were aboard the Cuauhtemoc arrived early Monday at the port of Veracruz, where Mexico’s naval school is, the Mexican navy said in a post on X.

The body of the other sailor killed, 23-year-old Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, was also returned to Mexico on Monday.

Alba Alemán, The Associated Press