Leicester confirm club owner killed in helicopter crash

Leicester City owner and chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has been confirmed among the dead in Saturday night’s helicopter crash tragedy at the King Power Stadium.

Emergency services rushed to the stadium after the 1-1 draw with West Ham and the Premier League club have now confirmed that five people died when the helicopter lost control during take-off.

Among those to have lost their lives is the club’s owner, as confirmed by Leicester in a heartbreaking statement on social media.

The Thai businessman has owned the club since 2010 and is hugely popular among supporters, and their fairytale Premier League title success in 2015-16 will be remembered as his greatest achievement and legacy.

A harrowing aerial shot of the crash site in daylight captures the extent of the carnage.

The image shows the charred wreckage of the helicopter from the fireball that witnesses say engulfed the vehicle after it crashed.

“The engine stopped and I turned round and it made a bit of a whirring noise, like a grinding noise,” freelance photographer Ryan Brown told BBC Radio Leicester.

“The helicopter just went silent, I turned round and it was just spinning, out of control. And then there was a big bang and then [a] big fireball.”

Srivaddhanaprabha has three surviving children. Leicester City’s vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who is Vichai’s son, was not at the game. It is unknown who will take control of the club following Vichai’s tragic death.

Fans pay tribute to crash victims

Leicester City fans and supporters have returned to the scene of the fiery helicopter crash to pay their respects.

Prayers and tributes poured in from across Britain for the jovial man many credit with bringing glory to the central English city with the miracle-making club – with a throng of supporters laying flowers, flags and handwritten notes at the scene.

“He’s put Leicester on the map,” supporter Cathy Dann, 55, told AFP.

“He’s made us big.”

A steady stream of grieving fans laid down football scarves and shirts outside the home fans’ entrance as aviation experts picked through small pieces of wreckage scattered on the stadium’s edge.

Among the tributes was an image of Ganesh – a Hindu god also seen in Thai Buddhist temples.

A minute’s silence was observed before the whistle of all Sunday’s Premier League matches as well.

“It is a family business and they have instilled this sense of family not just throughout the club but into the city as well,” Andrew Hulley, the team’s chaplain for the past seven years, told AFP.

Prayers and disbelief over Leicester tragedy

England legend Gary Lineker, a former Leicester player and host of the BBC’s Match of the Day, tweeted: “That was the most difficult @BBCMOTD I’ve ever hosted… A terrible tragedy. Heartbreaking.”

English football clubs and clubs from around the world, including players themselves, also sent an overwhelming number of supportive messages:

Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was manager of the team under Vichai, called his former boss a “very, very generous man” who “saw every game during my time”.

And ordinary fans in central Bangkok said Vichai helped develop Thailand’s football as well, bringing the Southeast Asian country greater recognition in the sports world.

“He is an important person who has raised the bar of Thai football further,” Apichart Jitratkavee, a Leicester fan in the Thai capital, told AFP.

Vichai bought Leicester City in 2010 and moved to chairman the following February, pouring millions into the team and becoming a beloved figure in the club and the city – a feat not always achieved by the Premier League’s foreign owners.

With agencies