Thai tycoon Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who owned the Leicester City football club, was on board the helicopter that crashed Saturday near the club’s home stadium after takeoff from the pitch, Leicestershire police said in a statement.
The football club confirmed that its owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, died in the crash of the helicopter at the club’s home stadium.
“It is with the deepest regret and a collective broken heart that we confirm our Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside King Power Stadium. None of the five people on-board survived,” the club said in a statement.
Leicestershire police said in a separate statement that five people are believed to have died in the incident, including the Leicester City football club owner, two members of his staff, the pilot and an unnamed passenger.
Italian aerospace company Leonardo SpA said on Sunday it was ready to help with an investigation into the crash of one of its AW169 helicopters at Leicester City soccer club on Saturday, stressing that it was the first accident involving the aircraft, which was introduced in 2015, Reuters reported.
Leicester City was bought in 2010 by Vichai, who also owned the Thai duty-free retail giant King Power.
