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Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and seven others, including members of his family, were killed when a chartered plane crashed in northern Minnesota Friday morning.

CNN reported that the Federal Aviation Administration said it lost contact with the senator’s plane about 10:20 local time, 11:20 EDT. The Associated Press said that the plane went down about two miles east of the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport shortly after take off.

Sen. Wellstone’s wife Sheila and his daughter Marcia were also on the plane, reports said.

Wellstone served on the Senate Agriculture; Health, Education, Labor and Pension; Foreign Relations; Small Business; Indian Affairs and Veterans’ Affairs committees.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but reports said there was freezing rain in the area at the time of the crash.

According to his Web site, Wellstone leaves behind two sons and six grandchildren.