A private jet reportedly carrying Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos crashed Wednesday in the city of Santos, a member of Campos’ political party said.
Brazil’s Globo News has reported Campos has died, though the site did not say how the information was obtained. Friends and colleagues told the BBC they are “very worried” as they have not made contact with Campos since the crash. The Jornal de Hoje reported bad weather in the region, and that the plane also carried Campos’ wife and son.
Witnesses said smoke is billowing from the crash site in a residential area of Santos. A police spokeswoman told the Agence France Presse there were “fatalities but we still do not have a number confirmed.” Firefighters told the BBC there were 10 “victims” but have not determined whether they’re injured or dead.
Guilherme Zeinum, a resident near Santos, told Brazilian news site G1 what he saw of the crash. “I heard a loud noise, followed by an explosion. I went to the window and I could just see black smoke,” he said. “I heard a noise like a turbine. It took a little while, about 10 minutes before I heard sirens heading towards the site.”
According to an Air Force statement, the plane lost contact with air traffic control while preparing to land. The Cessna 560XL plane had taken off from Rio de Janeiro’s domestic airport and was heading to the city of Guaruja, near Santos.
Campos’ running mate, Marina Silva, was not on board the plane, a source inside the political party told Reuters.
Campos had been running for president for the Brazilian Socialist Party, with the election due to take place in October.
He was competing for president against Aécio Neves and against Dilma Rousseff. Most of his electors were against Dilma so they more than probably will vote for Aécio, probably finishing the 10 years government of the communist party known as “Workers Party”.
The 49-year-old Campos had been a former ally to Rousseff before gunning for the presidency himself.