Leicester City owner killed in helicopter crash outside club's stadium
The helicopter belonging to Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed near the King Power Stadium after a Premier League match against West Ham.
Leicester City confirmed on Sunday evening that club chairman and owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed when his helicopter crashed in a car park just outside the Premier League club's King Power Stadium on Saturday night.
Crash occurred after Leicester match against West Ham
Initial reports were unable to confirm whether Srivaddhanaprabha was in the helicopter at the time of the accident, which occured after Leicester's 1-1 Premier League draw with West Ham United. However, the BBC began to report on Sunday morning that the Thai billionaire was on board.
"We are assisting Leicestershire Police and the emergency services in dealing with a major incident at King Power Stadium," a Leicester City spokesperson said on Saturday. "The Club will issue a more detailed statement once further information has been established."
Several photographs posted on social media showed a huge fireball inside the car park which, according to the BBC, has now been extinguished. Leicester police confirmed in a tweet that it was "dealing with an incident" close to the King Power Stadium, and that the emergency services were on the scene.
A reporter for Sky Sports said that the helicopter had taken off from the pitch inside the King Power, just as it does after every Leicester home game. Eye witnesses say they saw the craft go into a spin immediately after take-off.
Head of recruitment Macià not on board
It has been confirmed that Leicester's head of player recruitment, Eduardo Macià, who does at times travel with the club's owner, was not on board. Macíà is currently in Portugal.
Srivaddhanaprabha, who is the owner of the travel retail company King Power, bought Leicester City in August 2010.
