Peruvian presidential candidate dies in traffic accident in Andes

Lima, Mar 15 (AP) A Peruvian presidential candidate died Sunday in a car accident on a remote Andean highway while travelling to a political rally.
     Napoleon Becerra, 61, was the candidate for the Workers and Entrepreneurs Party of Peru in the April 12 election. The leftist was one of the 36 candidates and a recent poll showed him with less than 1% of the voting intentions.
     Becerra's vehicle went off the road in the rural district of the city of Pilpichaca, 430 km southeast of capital Lima, local police said. Mayor Balvin Huamani told The Associated Press that three passengers in the candidate's car were injured.
     Becerra's party said his body was taken to Huamanga, the capital of the Ayacucho region where the accident took place.
     Peruvians hope the general elections to put a halt to the country's extended political crisis. Jose Maria Balcazar, 83, became Peru's eighth president in a decade in February, replacing another interim leader who was ousted over corruption allegations. (AP) SCY
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)