Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos killed in plane crash

Seven die on private jet crashing in bad weather in Santos, just south of São Paulo, leaving October election in disarray

The Guardian, Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro and agencies in São Paulo, Wednesday 13 August 2014

Smoke billows from a private aircraft which crashed in residential area of Santos,
 north of São Paulo. Seven people were killed including presidential candidate
Eduardo Campos. Photograph: Luiz Fernando Menezes/Fotoarena/Corbis

Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was killed in a plane crash on Wednesday, said local officials, throwing the country's October election into disarray.

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.

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.

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.

The two other leading candidates in the October election - president Dilma Rousseff and senator Aécio Neves - are expected to suspend their campaigns temporarily.

"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."

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.

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.

ADDCampos's vice-presidential running mate, Marina Silva, heard the news as she was recording a TV programme and immediately left the studio.

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.

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.END ADD

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.

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.