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Ant War Iraq US senator bumped off ..

dhh | 25.10.2002 19:28

A BBC Washington correspondent, Nick Bryant, said
Senator Wellstone was one of the most liberal Democrats in the US Senate.
He said he was an energetic and feisty character who
was one of the strongest opponents of a war against Iraq

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2362671.stm

US senator dies in plane crash

Wellstone was regarded as a strongly liberal Democrat
A plane has crashed in northern Minnesota, killing eight
people including Democrat Senator Paul Wellstone.

His death comes just two weeks before mid-term
elections in which he was hoping for re-election to boost
the Democrats' chances of retaining their one-vote
majority in the Senate.

The plane was heading
from St Paul to the Iron
Range area in the north of
the state when it came
down seven miles (10
kilometres) east of the
Eveleth-Virginia Municipal
Airport, a Department of
Transportation spokesman
said.

Senator Wellstone's wife,
one of his three children, a
daughter, and three staff
members helping him to
campaign were also killed.

The weather at the time was reported to be cold, foggy
and with a freezing rain.

'Feisty character'

The St Louis County sheriff's office said rescue
personnel were on the scene.

The crashed plane was a Beechcraft King Air 200 - a
twin-engine turboprop made by Raytheon.

A BBC Washington correspondent, Nick Bryant, said
Senator Wellstone was one of the most liberal
Democrats in the US Senate.

He said he was an energetic and feisty character who
was one of the strongest opponents of a war against
Iraq.

Election upset

Senator Wellstone won his seat in 1990 in an
improbable upset, and was trying to hold on to it in the
face of a strenuous challenge from Norm Coleman, the
former mayor of St Paul.

Senator Wellstone grew up in northern Virginia, the son
of Russian immigrants.

His death echoes the death of Missouri Governor Mel
Carnahan, who was killed in a plane crash ahead of a
senatorial election in 2000.

Carnahan remained on the ballot sheet and won the
election. His governorship was taken up by his wife,
Jean.

Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura - an independent -
may now appoint a replacement for Mr Wellstone.

dhh
- Homepage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2362671.stm

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

wake up americans

25.10.2002 20:21

senator wellstone has just died in a plane
crash. same old Repubilcan brutish violence:
if someone in politics poses a threat, have them
bumped off in a plane crash.
wake up americans

francesbrackley
mail e-mail: francesbrackley@hotmail.com


News from Minnesota

25.10.2002 21:24

 http://www.startribune.com/stories/1752/3389207.html

Plume of smoke marked plane's wreckage for pilot on search mission
Pat Doyle
Star Tribune

Published Oct. 25, 2002


"I was the one who found it,'' said Gary Ulman, and owner of Taconite Aviation at the airport, who flew a search mission after air traffic authorities in Duluth lost contact with Sen. Paul Wellstone's plane.

"I was following the track that they should have been on,'' Ulman said. "I saw smoke that I thought was just a chimney fire. I thought I better go check it out anyhow...flew over it.

Then he saw the wreckage.

"There wasn' t much left of the airplane...from what I could see just a verticle tail,'' he said. "It was engulfed in flames, in a wooded swampy area.''

Ulman said the wreckage was one to two miles off course and about the same distance southeast of the airport.

The FAA reported light winds and snow in the area at the time of the crash. Ulman said weather conditions were "good enough for the approach, probably two to 2 1/2 miles of visiblity."

FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said, "On approach, there was a discussion about approach to the airport. It was on approach when we lost contact with it at 10:20 a.m.''

Cory said there "didn't appear to be" any sign of distress during the discussion.

Mac


Second in two years ..

26.10.2002 05:45

the article mentions another crash in 2000, and another dead senator, was he by any chance liberal democrat,
anti chimp (GW) ?

phd


Carnahan was a Democrat..

28.10.2002 19:06

How'd you guess? He was running against none other than John Ashcroft at the time.

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