Crowds in Mexico watch total solar eclipse

A total solar eclipse has carved a path across North America, casting towns from western Mexico to eastern Canada into darkness for several minutes as millions of skygazers looked on in awe. Mazatlan, Mexico, was the first big city to come under the eclipse. Crowds massed on a beach as the first sliver of the sun disappeared behind the moon and a shadow raced towards them across the Pacific. Eclipse chasers, or “umbraphiles”, had converged on the Mexican resort town from all over the world, along with a delegation from Nasa. President López Obrador of Mexico had come too, promising his countrymen and women that they could expect a sight “like seeing a comet”. Read the best of our journalism: Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: Find us on Facebook: Find us on Twitter: Find us on