Peru presidential candidate dies in traffic accident

The progressive was one of the 36 candidates and a recent poll showed him with less than 1 per cent of the voting intentions. 

Becerra's vehicle went off the road in the rural district of the city of Pilpichaca, 430km southeast of capital Lima, local police said.

Mayor Balvín Huamaní 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.

José María Balcázar, 83, became Peru's eighth president in a decade in February, replacing another interim leader who was ousted over corruption allegations.