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FLOWERS and wreaths have been laid outside Leicester’s City’s stadium, the morning after a helicopter belonging to the English club’s Thai owner crashed in flames next to the ground.
Small bouquets were left by members of the public alongside a large image of the Hindu god Ganesh, which was also propped up among the flowers.
A small candle was placed in front of the flowers as people gathered at the stadium.
The club from central England has said it is badisting authorities with “a major incident” at the stadium after eyewitnesses reported seeing the helicopter plummet to the ground shortly after it took off from the field following a Premier League game between Leicester and West Ham on Saturday night.
Leicester’s owner, Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, is known for arriving and leaving the stadium in his helicopter at home games. There has been no official statement about who was on board.
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 Service’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer Andrew Brodie tweeted that the accident was “clearly serious and tragic”, adding “please don’t 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.
In a scene regularly seen after matches, Vichai’s aircraft arrived in the King Power Stadium after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against West Ham before taking off from the centre circle. The helicopter usually takes Srivaddhanaprabha back to his English base, in Berkshire, outside London.
Photographer Ryan Brown reported hearing the engine stopping after the helicopter cleared the stadium.
“I turned round and it made a bit of a 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 presenter Jake Humphrey announced later on air.
“The helicopter has crashed. It has crashed in the club carpark … we heard a commotion.” The local ambulance service said it received reports of a helicopter crash at 8:38 p.m. local time and sent a doctor, two paramedics in ambulance cars, a crewed ambulance and 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 came 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 from all at the Premier League are with everyone affected by tonight’s incident.”
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