Plane reportedly carrying Brazilian presidential candidate crashes

PanARMENIAN.Net - A plane carrying the Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos has crashed in a residential area of the port city of Santos, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, BBC News reports.

Members of Campos' Socialist party (PSB) said he had died in the crash. The party of his running mate, Marina Silva, tweeted that it was "shocked by Campos' death".

The plane was frequently used by Campos, who has been running third in the polls for October's election.

Firefighters said there were 10 "victims" but did not clarify if the 10 were injured or dead.

A police spokeswoman told the AFP that there were "fatalities but we still do not have a number confirmed".

Locals said the sky was cloudy and it was raining at the time of the crash.

Police and emergency workers are at the scene in Santos, which is located 70km (43 miles) south-east of Sao Paulo.

The Cessna 560XL plane had taken off from Rio de Janeiro's domestic airport and was heading to the city of Guaruja, near Santos, the Brazilian Air Force said.

According to Air Force officials, air traffic control lost contact with the plane after it could not land in Guaruja due to bad weather.