The Mexican navy tall ship that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night apparently lost power shortly before the collision, the NYPD said.
The hulking Cuauhtémoc, which holds a crew of 277 largely made up of cadets, appeared to lose control as it went backwards into the bridge and slammed its towering masts into the roadbed at about 8:30 p.m.
Two sailors were on top of one of the 147-foot masts when it struck the bridge. So far, four people on board were critically injured in the crash and another 23 were injured, the NYPD said.
The finding of loss of power is only preliminary officials cautioned and the The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating.
Officials said the ship was on its way out of New York on its way to Iceland when the disaster occurred.
