Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos dies in plane crash
SANTOS, Brazil -- Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died yesterday when the small plane that was carrying him and several campaign officials plunged into a residential neighborhood in the port city of Santos.
All seven people aboard the plane, including a campaign photographer and cameraman, a press adviser and two pilots, died in the crash, Santos City Hall press officer Patricia Fagueiro said.
In a solemn address, President Dilma Rousseff declared three days of official mourning in honor of Campos and said she would suspend her campaign during that time.
"Today Brazil is in mourning and reeling from a death that took the life of a promising young politician," she said. Campos, the scion of a political family from the northeastern state of Pernambuco, had been an ally of Rousseff but broke away ahead of the campaign for the Oct. 4 presidential election.
Polls suggested he was running in third place, far behind Rousseff and another political rival. But his Brazilian Socialist Party ticket was widely regarded as among the best-placed to challenge Rousseff and her Workers Party, thanks largely to his popular running mate, former Environment Minister Marina Silva.
It was not immediately clear whether Silva would assume Campos' spot as the party's presidential candidate. Under Brazilian law, in the event of a candidate's death, a party has 10 days to decide on a substitute.
Aeronautical authorities said the Cessna 560XL was attempting to land in bad weather. -- AP
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
