Onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror as the ship, its sails furled and festive lights draped in its rigging, tried to pass beneath the bridge, which sheared off the masts and sent them crashing into the East River.

The Mexican Navy said in a statement that 22 people on board the training ship were injured, three of them critically.

Some US media reports suggested that sailors had been in the rigging as the ship slammed into the bridge. The Navy said in its statement that no one had fallen into the water, and that no rescue operation had been launched.

Victims were rushed to local hospitals, The New York Post reported.

According to multiple US media reports, around 200 people were on the Cuauhtemoc, a barque built in 1982 which had a mast height of 48.2 meters (158 feet), at the time.

The Cuauhtemoc had been on a training maneouver at the time and was damaged in the "mishap," the Mexican Navy said in a separate statement on X.

"The Ministry of the Navy reaffirms its commitment to the safety of its personnel, transparency in its operations and excellence in the training of future officers of the Mexican Navy," it said.