Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was killed Wednesday when his private jet crashed in bad weather.
Six others also died in the crash.
Campos, Brazil's Socialist Party candidate, was in third place in the presidential race, with about 10 percent of voters supporting him, according to recent polls. Both President Dilma Rousseff, who is leading in the polls, and second-place candidate Senator Aecio Neves said they would
suspend their campaigns for three days, CNN reported.
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Many considered Campos to be the most business-friendly candidate. The former governor of Pernambuco and federal lawmaker had support from banks and industrial groups.
Campos was en route to a campaign event when the plane swerved in bad weather and the air traffic control tower lost contact with it, CNN reported.
A witness told CNN that the plane “hit the ground like a rock” and appeared to have hit a house in Santos.
The Brazilian Socialist Party has 10 days to nominate a new candidate for the Oct. 5 election. Marina Silva, Campos’ running mate, was not on the plane.
"The whole of Brazil is in mourning," Rousseff said,
according to the BBC. "We lost a great Brazilian today, Eduardo Campos. We lost a great comrade."
Campos, 49, was married with five children.
Twitter users were saddened by the news.
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