A helicopter crashed outside of Leicester City’s King Power Stadium on Saturday night following the Foxes’ 1-1 draw with West Ham.
The helicopter of Leicester City’s owner crashed outside of the club’s King Power Stadium on Saturday night after the Foxes’ Premier League match.
More than an hour after the 1-1 draw against West Ham, the helicopter took off from the center of the stadium’s pitch, cleared the stands and crashed seconds later.
There was no immediate details about who was on board. In the past, Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has regularly used the helicopter to travel between the stadium and London.
Pictures and video posted on social media showed flames and smoke billowing into the air from the stadium parking lot.
Sky Sports reported that the majority of fans had departed the area surrounding the stadium before the incident, though some people were still in the vicinity of the crash.
Leicester police said in a statement: “Emergency services are currently dealing with an incident at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester, after an aircraft came down in a car park behind the ground earlier this evening.
“Officers are working alongside the ambulance service, Leicester Fire and Rescue Service, the Air Accident Investigation Branch and Leicester City Football Club to establish the exact circumstances of the collision.”
Srivaddhanaprabha, the billionaire owner of Thai duty-free retail giant King Power, bought Leicester City in 2010. Six years later, the club won the Premier League at odds of 5,000-1.
A Leicester City spokesman said: “We are assisting Leicestershire Police and the Emergency Services in dealing with a major incident at King Power Stadium. The Club will issue a more detailed statement once further information has been established.”
The local ambulance service said in a statement: “We received a call at 8:38 p.m. this evening to reports of a helicopter crash near King Power Stadium. We sent a doctor, two paramedics in ambulance cars, a crewed ambulance and our Hazardous Area Response Team, with the first resource arriving within two minutes of the call.”
Multiple clubs and players expressed their concern at news of the crash, while the Premier League tweeted: “Thoughts from all at the Premier League are with everyone affected by tonight’s incident.”
Information from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this report.
