Leicester City chairman and his daughter on crashed helicopter

Xinhua Published: 2018-10-28 19:27:53
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English Premier League side Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his daughter were on board the helicopter which crashed outside the club's King Power Stadium Saturday night.

A man adds to flowers and Leicester City scarfs left as tributes outside Leicester City Football Club's King Power Stadium in Leicester, eastern England, on October 28, 2018 after a helicopter belonging to the club's Thai chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed outside the stadium the night before. [Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall]

A man adds to flowers and Leicester City scarfs left as tributes outside Leicester City Football Club's King Power Stadium in Leicester, eastern England, on October 28, 2018 after a helicopter belonging to the club's Thai chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed outside the stadium the night before. [Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall]

Srivaddhanaprabha, his daughter, two pilots and a fifth person were on the aircraft which took off from the center circle of the stadium after their 1-1 draw with West Ham in the Premier League. The helicopter began to spin and crashed in the corner of a car park just hundreds of meters away from stadium, Reuters said.

The aircraft, an Augusta Westland AW-169, spun out of control and went down to the ground before bursting into flames.

A police officer rushed towards the helicopter and attempted to pull open the door to save those inside, before an "explosion" turned the wreckage into a fireball and forced the officer back, witnesses said.

It is not clear if there are any survivors.

Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, is a Thai billionaire and the founder of duty-free consortium King Power International. He is ranked as the fifth richest person in Thailand by Forbes Magazine.

A polo lover, he bought the then Championship side Leicester City in 2010 for 39 million pounds and led the club to the Premier League title in 2016 and reach the Champions League quarterfinals a year later.

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