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Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos killed in plane crash Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos killed in plane crash
(35 minutes later)
Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was killed in a plane crash on Wednesday, said local officials, throwing the country's October election into disarray. Brazil's presidential election campaign was thrown into uncertainty on Wednesday when a private jet carrying the socialist party candidate, Eduardo Campos crashed into a residential area near São Paulo.
Campos's private jet crashed in bad weather in the coastal city of Santos, just south of São Paulo, as it was preparing to land. Campos and the six other crew and passengers were killed in the accident, which occurred in bad weather as the Cessna plane was preparing to land.
All seven people aboard the plane, including a campaign photographer and press adviser, as well as two pilots, died in the crash, City Hall press officer Patricia Fagueiro told the Associated Press. Images from the scene show smoke rising from a building and crowds with umbrellas watching as firemen entered the site. The deaths prompted a wave of mourning across the country, which is likely to be followed by speculation about the effect on the presidential vote on 5 October.
Campos, 49, had the support of about 10% of voters in recent polls. The Brazilian Congress said it would suspend working to mourn the death. "This is sad news for all Brazilians," federal deputy Izalci Ferreira told reporters. Campos, a former Pernambuco governor with a business-friendly reputation, had shaken the political world by choosing environmentalist Marina Silva as his running mate.
The two other leading candidates in the October election - president Dilma Rousseff and senator Aécio Neves - are expected to suspend their campaigns temporarily. The unlikely couple were in third place in the closely fought race to run Latin America's most populous and economically powerful nation. Silva – who was runner-up to Dilma Rousseff in the last election in 2010 – is now widely expected to head the campaign, though she has yet to comment.
"He was one of the most talented public men of his generation. The whole country will be in mourning," said Vital do Rego, the president of the joint parliamentary committee of inquiry." Silva heard the news as she was recording a TV programme and immediately left the studio.
Rousseff is leading in polls with about 36% of voter support. Neves has enjoyed about 20% in polls and was widely expected to face Rousseff in a second-round runoff. Her political party, the Sustainability Network, said she was on her way to the crash site and expressed condolences on Twitter. "We are all shocked by the death of Eduardo Campos in the plane crash this morning," it said.
Campos, a former governor of northeastern Pernambuco state, was running as a business-friendly leftist and had strong support from many banks and industrial groups. Other members of the campaign were on their way to the site. "We're stunned. It seems that there are no survivors … An irreparable loss," representative Julio Delgado told local media.
ADDCampos's vice-presidential running mate, Marina Silva, heard the news as she was recording a TV programme and immediately left the studio. The plane came down in an urban area and crashed into a gymnasium in dense residential area. Images from the scene show smoke rising from a building and crowds with umbrellas watching as firemen entered the site.
Her political party, the Sustainability Network said on Twitter that she was on her way to Santos. "We are all shocked by the death of Eduardo Campos in the plane crash this morning," it said. The number of casualties has yet to be confirmed. Six other people, including a press manager, a journalist and an official photographer, were on board the jet. Reporters said they found election material among the wreckage.
Other members of the campaign were on their way to the site. Campos is the grandson of Miguel Arraes, who was also governor of Pernambuco and spent 15 years in exile during the military dictatorship. The political blue-blood was also the youngest member of the first administration of the former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in which he served as science and technology minister.
"We're stunned. It seems that there are no survivors...An irreparable loss," Representative Julio Delgado told local media.END ADD The night before the crash, he took part in a live interview on Globo TV in Rio de Janeiro that was expected to lift his polling figures.
Silva came third in the 2010 presidential election and enjoys robust support from young voters and evangelical voters, but her pro-environment agenda means that many in Brazil's powerful agribusiness sector distrust her. "Alongside Marina Silva, I want to represent your frustration, your dreams and your desires for a better Brazil. We will not give up on Brazil. Here is where we will raise our children. Here is where we have to create a fairer society," he told viewers.
Brazil's main stock index lost as much as 2% following initial reports that Campos was on the crashed plane, but later pared losses to just over 1%. The currency also lost ground. Condolences flooded in from across the political spectrum.
"He was one of the most talented public men of his generation. The whole country will be in mourning," said Vital do Rego, the president of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry."
Dilma's campaign team suspended campaigns for three days to mark the death. The Brazilian Congress also halted deliberations. "This is sad news for all Brazilians," federal deputy Izalci Ferreira told reporters.
Romario, the Brazilian World Cup winning striker who is now a successful politician, lamented what he said was a loss to the nation. "Under Eduardo Campo's leadership, Brazil would definitely have had a better future," he said.