(Photo Credit: PSB)

Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was among passengers that died in a plane that crashed in the city of Santos Wednesday, local aviation authorities confirmed.
Campos, the popular former governor of the state of Pernambuco, represented the Brazilian Socialist Party in the presidential race and had been running third in recent opinion polls, behind President Dilma Rousseff and opposition candidate Aecio Neves. According to local officials, the plane was carrying seven passengers and crashed into a residential area in preparation for landing in poor weather conditions. Both Ms. Rousseff and Mr. Neves issued statements lamenting the tragedy and announcing cancellation of their campaign events in coming days. Mr. Campos was in the race alongside vice-presidential candidate Marina Silva of the Sustainability Network party. Ms. Silva, however, was not aboard the plane. Officials from Mr. Campos’ and Ms. Silva’s campaign didn’t have an immediate comment on plans in the wake of the accident. According to Brazilian electoral rules, Mr. Campos’ Brazilian Socialist Party has 10 days to decide on who might replace the candidate in the race. Brazil’s presidential elections are scheduled for October.