Leicester City FC helicopter crash: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crash owner at King Power Premier League

The central England team said it was attended by "a major incident" at the stadium, after eyewitnesses reported the helicopter plummet to the ground soon after takeoff, about an hour after Leicester's match against West Ham.

Some seven hours after the crash, police had still made no public statements about casualties.

However, in the early hours of Sunday, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue's Assistant Chief Fire Officer Andrew Brodie tweeted that the accident was "clearly serious and tragic", adding "please do not speculate on cause or who may be involved.

Srivaddhanaprabha, who owns Thai duty-free retail giant King Power and is said by Forbes to be the fifth-richest person in Thailand, bought Leicester in 2010 and provided the funds that helped the team improbably win the Premier League at odds of 5,000-1 in 2016.

Vichai's aircraft arrived in the King Power Stadium after Saturday's 1-1 draw against West Ham. The helicopter usually takes Srivaddhanaprabha back to his home base, in Berkshire, outside London.

Photographer Ryan Brown reported hearing the engine stopping after the helicopter cleared the stadium.

"I turned round and made a noise whirring noise, like a grinding noise," Brown told the BBC. "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. "British broadcaster BT Sport was presenting its post-game show in the stadium when the helicopter took off.

"It suddenly got very serious," BT present Jake Humphrey announced later on air.

"The helicopter has crashed. It was crashed in the carpark club … we heard a commotion. "The local ambulance service reported a helicopter crash at 8:38 pm local time and a doctor, two paramedics in ambulance cars, a crewed ambulance its Hazardous Area Response Team.

"The first resource (arrived) within two minutes of the call," the ambulance service said.

An indication of concerns within the Leicester squad cam on social media.

The emoji of praying hands was tweeted by several players, including striker Jamie Vardy, whose goals helped the 134-year-old team win the English title for the first time in 2016.

The competition's organizers tweeted: "Thoughts of all at the Premier League are affected by tonight's incident."