At least 22 people have been injured and three remain in a serious condition after a Mexican Navy training ship crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge.

Footage shows the towering masts of the Cuauht?moc clipping the bridge as the sailing vessel was passing under the famous structure on Saturday evening.

Parts of the masts reportedly fell on the deck. The injuries were sustained because some members of the crew were standing on the masts at the time of collision, authorities said.

More than 200 people were on board the vessel, which was on a goodwill visit. Local media reports say the ship reportedly lost power before the collision.

In a media briefing led by New York Mayor Eric Adams, authorities said that no-one had fallen into the water. Brooklyn Bridge had not sustained any major damage, the mayor added.

The ship lost the top of two masts and all personnel on the ship have been accounted for, the New York Coast Guard said in statement, with the injured have been transported to hospital.

The Mexican Navy confirmed that the ship was damaged, saying the incident was being investigated.

The New York Police Department's chief of operations said he believed "mechanical issues" and a power cut had caused the ship to collide with one of the pillars.

Mexico's navy put the number of injured at 22, with three seriously injured, while New York's mayor gave the number of seriously injured as four.

Crowds who were watching the ship's trajectory fled from the water's edge as the masts collided with the bridge.

New York police told residents to avoid the area of Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport in Manhattan, and Dumbo in Brooklyn.

"Expect heavy traffic and a large presence of emergency vehicles in the surrounding area," the city police department said on X.

The vessel, which measures 297 feet long and 40 feet wide, according to the Mexican navy, sailed for the first time in 1982.

Each year it sets sail at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets' training.

This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco on April 6 with 277 people aboard, the navy said. Its final destination was intended to be Iceland. (BBC)

?PHOTO: Damaged masts on the Mexican Navy training ship Cuauht?moc after it crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

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