Tearful Leicester City fans have gathered to lay flowers at the King Power Stadium today after reports the club’s owner was on board a helicopter which crashed and burst into flames last night.
The helicopter – feared to have been carrying popular owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, two pilots and two others – crashed in the corner of the club car park moments after taking off from the centre circle following Leicester’s draw with West Ham last night.
Early reports said Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s daughter was on board with him at the time, although sources at Leicester City have since denied this. The BBC today reported that a family source said the owner was on board.
Fans who gathered at the ground this morning branded it Leicester’s ‘darkest day’, paying tribute to the owner who helped them to a miracle Premier League triumph in 2016.
Police are yet to comment on the fate of Mr Srivaddhanaprahba, 60, who has four children. With fans waiting desperately for news, detectives said this afternoon they were ‘working with a number of other agencies’ to release a statement.
Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s helicopter was heading for Luton Airport where he was due to catch a flight to Thailand, Leicester sources said today.
Witnesses have said the ‘engine stopped’ in the air before the helicopter plummeted to the ground at around 8.45pm.
Srivaddhanaprabha was born in Bangkok on April 4, 1958 to a Thai Chinese family.He is fifth on the Thailand richlist of billionaires and is said to be worth close to £4billion
DailyMail