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LEICESTER, England (Reuters) – Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, owner of the Leicester City football club, was aboard a helicopter that crashed in front of the club's stadium, BBC Sunday quoted a source as saying. close to his family.
The helicopter crashed into a fireball on the club car park Saturday after a Premier League game.
The club and Vichai company, duty-free giant King Power International, refused to say whether he was in the helicopter, who lost control of his pilot and crashed about an hour after the match.
According to eyewitnesses, the helicopter would have just crossed the top of the stadium before it began to skate. He then collapsed to the ground and caught fire.
A spokesman for the Midlands Club said Saturday, "We are helping Leicestershire police and emergency services deal with a major incident at King Power Stadium."
John Butcher, who was near the stadium at the time of the accident, told the BBC that his nephew had seen the helicopter go wild, apparently because of a defective rear propeller.
"In a second, he fell like a rock on the ground … Fortunately, he spiraled for a little while and everyone ran, somehow scattered. As far as we know, no one around the parking lot has been caught in this problem. "
In Thailand, King Power officials said they could not comment on the crash or indicate whether Vichai was on board.
Vichai is a big favorite among fans after having bought the non-prisoner club from central England in 2010 and then knocked out the football world by winning the league title in 2016.
According to Forbes magazine, it is the fifth richest person in Thailand with an estimated net worth of $ 4.9 billion.
Police in Leicestershire announced that a team from the Air Accident Investigation Branch of the Department of Transportation was in charge of investigating the cause of the accident.
ENGLISH CHAMPIONS
After injecting millions of pounds into the club, he helped them to return to the top of the rankings in 2014, before stunting the sport by beating clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea to become champions. ;England.
The group's main players, including Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire, sent messages of support on Twitter, while rival clubs, including Manchester City, also expressed concern.
Freelance photographer Ryan Brown covered the match and saw the helicopter clear the stadium before the crash, the BBC reported.
"The engine stopped and I turned around, which caused a roar," Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live. "It became silent, the blades started to spin and there was a big bang."
Leicester had played a home league match against West Ham United on Saturday, drawing 1-1.
Self-taught businessman Vichai founded royalty-free Thai giant King Power in 1989.
The duty-free activity grew strongly in 2006, with the monopoly of the airport under the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The family empire also includes the Belgian football club Oud-Heverlee Leuven.
Report by William Schomberg; Edited by Elaine Hardcastle
