Authorities say two women watching the eclipse while standing on a sidewalk in Kentucky were struck by a car, and one has died.
State Police Trooper Jody Sims says the car crossed the centre line and hit a utility pole and the pedestrians Monday in Hyden, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Lexington.
Sims says 23-year-old Mackenzie P. Hays was pronounced dead, and 41-year-old Rhonda Belcher was flown to the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington. Thirty-eight-year-old motorist Alyssa Noble was taken to a medical centre. The condition of Wooton and Noble weren’t immediately known.
State Police Capt. Jennifer Sandlin confirmed the pedestrians were viewing the partial eclipse. Police didn’t say what caused the crash.
Meanwhile, Scientists, journalists and contest winners were among about 100 people who enjoyed a closer look at the eclipse, thanks to a special eclipse-chasing charter flight by Alaska Airlines.
The jet flew for nearly three hours over the Pacific Ocean to intercept the eclipse, allowing passengers to watch full blockage of the sun from their seats.
Excitement on the plane built as New York Hayden Planetarium instructor Joe Rao counted down the final seconds before the moon blocked out the sun.
Rao helped the airline figure out the logistics of the flight. It was his 12th solar eclipse.
Twenty-six-year-old passenger Jasmine Shepherd, of Charlotte, North Carolina, won a seat on the flight through a social media contest. She says the eclipse was hard to process, but she wants to see it again.
