Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos, 49, died in a plane crash in the country's southeast, according to local reports.
The Cessna 560 XL, an executive jet that carries two crew, up to nine passengers and is also known as a Cessna Citation, reportedly went down around 10 a.m. local time in Santos, Brazil, after losing control with Santos Dumont Airport's air traffic control.
"The aircraft took off from Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro, bound for the airport Guarujá (SP). When preparing for landing, the plane lunged due to bad weather. Then, the air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft," Brazil's Air Force said in a statement to Globo.
Satellite imagery taken on Wednesday shows a storm system moving through southeast Brazil around the time of the crash.
Santos is a coastal city located approximately 50 miles southeast of São Paulo.
The Brazilian Socialist Party said the candidate's wife, Renata, his young son, Miguel, three staffers and an unidentified videographer were also on board the flight, Globo reported. Campos, a former governor of Pernambuco state, was polling at 10% in recent polls, according to Reuters, putting him well behind Brazil's current President Dilma Rousseff, who is seeking reelection on Oct. 5. His running mate, vice presidential candidate Marina Silva, was not on board the plane. The party has yet to announce if she will take his place on the ticket. It has ten days to make a decision, according to Brazilian campaign law.
The local fire department told Globo News that seven people were taken to area hospitals, though it's not clear if those people were on board the airport or on the ground.
Witnesses who posted photos of the scene show the small jet appeared to crash in a residential area.
Jet crashed over a gym in Santos, important coastal city in the state of Sao Paulo. Total number of victims unclear pic.twitter.com/hk42wejcI6— Kety Shapazian (@KetyBrazil) August 13, 2014
Ugly scene in Santos at the scene of Pres. candidate @eduardocampos40 plane crash. pic.twitter.com/A8iPa4E0is— Casey Clark (@CaseyClarkjr) August 13, 2014
Helicóptero cai em área urbana de Santos, litoral de SP; saiba mais: #G1 — (@g1) Aug 13 2014
Ernesto Donizete da Silva, an eyewitness at the crash site in Santos, Brazil posted two Facebook videos that capture rescue efforts at the scene. Both were corroborated by the social news agency Storyful.
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Post by Ernesto Donizete da Silva.
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Post by Ernesto Donizete da Silva.
Alex Ellis, the British Ambassador to Brazil, tweeted Wednesday afternoon after learning of the candidate and former governor's death, "Eduardo Campos helped transform the UK's relationship with Pernambuco State, with the reopening of our Recife consulate. A sad loss."
Brazil's stock market dove on reports of the news Wednesday morning, falling more than 2% before eventually recovering.
Brazilian stock market is in free fall as reports confirm presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died in a plane crash pic.twitter.com/sORDBaO10e— Samuel Oakford (@samueloakford) August 13, 2014