Leicester City Owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Confirmed Dead after His Chopper Crashed outside Home Stadium in UK

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the owner of football club Leicester City FC is confirmed to have died in the helicopter crash that occurred on the night of October 27 around 8:30pm local time.

The confirmation comes almost 24 hours after the crash as authorities and the club had till now refused to confirm if there were any survivors in the incident. Srivaddhanaprabha was killed along with two members of his staff, the pilot and another passenger when the chopper crashed outside the club’s home stadium.

There were many those who saw the helicopter take to the air, clear the King Power Stadium before it spiraled out of control and crashed and then exploded into a fireball. The helicopter came down in a car park near the stadium just over an hour after Leicester had drawn 1-1 against West Ham United in the Premier League.

Leicestershire Police confirmed no-one else had been injured and said the Air Accidents Investigation Branch had launched an investigation. Superintendent Steve Potter said: "Emergency services were immediately on scene when the crash happened, working to put out the fire and gain access to the helicopter in attempts to reach those inside. Despite those efforts, there were no survivors."

Supt Potter said it was likely to take several days to complete the investigation at the crash site.

In a statement, Leicester City said the club's thoughts were with "the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss".

The club described Srivaddhanaprabha as "a man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led".

"Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the club that is now his legacy," it added.

The club's Tuesday’s First Team fixture against Southampton in the EFL Cup and the Development Squad fixture against Feyenoord in the Premier League International Cup have been postponed.

Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, was a Thai billionaire who bought Leicester City for £39million in 2010. Under his ownership the club won the English Premier League in 2016, having started the season as 5,000/1 outsiders.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 29, 2018 06:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).