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. Think of families, friends, responders, and (Leicester City) and their fans.”<doc-sep>next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 A helicopter was engulfed in flames in a carpark outside English soccer club Leicester shortly after a Premier League game on Saturday. The helicopter belonging to Leicester's ownership took off from the center of the field at King Power Stadium more than an hour after the game against West Ham was drawn 1-1, and crashed seconds later. But there were no immediate details about who was on board. 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 team said it was assisting authorities with "a major incident" outside the stadium but no further information was provided. 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." Leicester was bought in 2010 by billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who also owns Thai duty-free retail giant King Power. The team won the English Premier League at odds of 5,000-1 in 2016. The Premier League tweeted: "Thoughts from all at the Premier League are with everyone affected by tonight's incident." Leicester players Harry Maguire and Wilfred Ndidi tweeted the emoji of praying hands. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports<doc-sep>LEICESTER City’s charismatic Thai boss has died after his helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the football stadium car park moments after taking off, the club has confirmed. Leicester released a statement on Monday morning (EDT) confirming the horrible news. “It is with the deepest regret and collective broken heart that we confirm our chairman 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,” it said. “The primary thoughts of everyone at the club are with the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on board. We are deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the other passengers on board the helicopter that left the King Power Stadium last night. We send our heartfelt condolences to their families and all at @LCFC at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/r4K4KEtSZa — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 28, 2018 “In Khun Vichai the world has lost a great man. A man of kindless, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led. “Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the club that is now his legacy.” Images showed orange balls of flame engulfing the wreckage in the car park at King Power Stadium - the scene of unbridled jubilation after Leicester’s against-all-odds Premier League title victory in 2016. A witness told Sky News the helicopter spun out of control after clearing the roof of the stadium before steadying itself and crashing into the car park and away from the packed media centre nearby. Fellow EPL clubs were quick to issue statements of condolences. Tottenham said: “We send our heartfelt condolences to their families and all at @LCFC at this difficult time.” Liverpool’s owners said: “It is with great sadness that we today offer our heartfelt sympathies to Leicester City. “Our thoughts and condolences are extended to the families and loved ones of all those lost in this dreadful accident. “The admiration we have for Vichai, his family and colleagues is as high as you can imagine, both professionally and personally.” Chelsea echoed those sentiments. “Khun Vichai was a passionate owner and supporter of Leicester, overseeing their incredible, unforgettable 2015/16 Premier League success with N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater both a part of that team managed by Claudio Ranieri. He was a regular attendee of matches and a popular figure with fans and colleagues alike. “Our thoughts at this sad time are with the family and friends of all those who lost their lives, as well as the players, staff and supporters at Leicester City.” Prayers and tributes poured in from across Britain for the jovial man many credit with bringing glory to the central English city with the miracle-making club. “He’s put Leicester on the map,” supporter Cathy Dann, 55, said. “He’s made us big.” A steady stream of grieving fans laid down football scarves and shirts outside the home fans’ entrance as aviation experts picked through small pieces of wreckage scattered on the stadium’s edge. Among the tributes was an image of Ganesh - a Hindu god also seen in Thai Buddhist temples. A minute’s silence was observed before the whistle of Monday morning’s (EDT) Premier League matches. “It is a family business and they have instilled this sense of family not just throughout the club but into the city as well,” Andrew Hulley, the team’s chaplain for the past seven years, said. England legend Gary Lineker, a former Leicester player and host of the BBC’s Match of the Day, tweeted That was the most difficult @BBCMOTD I’ve ever hosted. Thoughts are with everyone at Leicester City. A terrible tragedy. Heartbreaking. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 27, 2018 Leicester stars Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire both tweeted emojis of hands held up in prayer. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 — Jamie Vardy (@vardy7) October 27, 2018 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 — Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) October 27, 2018 Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was manager of the team under Vichai, called his former boss a “very, very generous man” who “saw every game during my time”. And ordinary fans in central Bangkok said Vichai helped develop Thailand’s football as well, bringing the southeast Asian country greater recognition in the sports world. “He is an important person who has raised the bar of Thai football further,” Apichart Jitratkavee, a Leicester fan in the Thai capital, said. Vichai bought Leicester City in 2010 and moved to chairman the following February, pouring millions into the team and becoming a beloved figure in the club and the city - a feat not always achieved by the Premier League’s foreign owners. It was under Vichai’s ownership that Leicester crafted one of the biggest fairytales in English football history by winning the 2015/16 Premier League, having started the season as 5000-1 outsiders for the title. Vichai’s investments in the club helped return them to England’s Premier League from the second-tier Championship in 2014. They initially seemed outclassed by richer and more established rival from London, Liverpool and Manchester, languishing at the very bottom of the table for most of the 2014/15 season. The Foxes, as the team are nicknamed, then engineered what fans now fondly refer to as the “Great Escape”, winning seven of their last nine matches. They ended up finishing 14th, securing another season in Europe’s richest league in 2015/16. But not even their most devout fans could have imagined what happened next. Vardy, signed from non-league Fleetwood Town, scored in 11 consecutive matches, propelling the men in blue to a title without parallel in Premier League history. The success also qualified them for the first time for the lucrative Champions League, the pinnacle of European football played by the continent’s most successful sides, including Barcelona and Real Madrid. There, Leicester City defied the odds yet again, winning their group before eventually losing their quarter-final 2-1 over two legs to Atletico Madrid.<doc-sep>Srivaddhanaprabha bought the Foxes in 2010 and made the club debt free VICHAI SRIVADDHANAPRABHA, the Leicester owner died in a helicopter crash, would leave whisky and glasses for Foxes fans to toast lost loved ones before each match. The touching gesture is just one of many that saw Leicester fans and players grow so fond of the 60-year-old Thai billionaire over the past eight years. MORE NEWS WORST FEARS CONFIRMED: LEICESTER OWNER DEAD AFTER HELICOPTER CRASH ‘MADE MY DREAMS COME TRUE’: HEARTBROKEN LEICESTER STARS’ TRIBUTES TO OWNER REVEALED: ‘HEROIC’ PILOT MAY HAVE SAVED HUNDREDS OF LIVES It was not just his financial support towards their shock Premier League title in 2016 that has seen the Foxes squad warm to Srivaddhanaprabha, but his generosity. Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was seen in tears last night after running outside the King Power stadium to the crash site. Srivaddhanaprabha lent his helicopter to Schmeichel when the keeper broke from a family break for a advertising film shoot for the club to return to his holiday. Srivaddhanaprabha purchased Leicester in the summer of 2010 and while still in the Championship and made the club debt free after writing off the £103million in loans. EVERY PL GOAL: GUNNER’S STUNNER, MARTIAL BANGER EASES PRESSURE ON JOSE Srivaddhanaprabha fell in love with Leicester - and Leicester fell in love with him. Source: The Sun When they achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2014, the Foxes owner took the whole squad and staff to an exclusive restaurant in west London. They were treated to caviar and fine wine as well as being given £1,000 each to gamble with at a private members’ club down the road. A year later, when Premier League survival was confirmed, Srivaddhanaprabha rewarded fans with a free pint of beer to celebrate. And then came the title-winning season. The Thai billionaire, who made his riches through duty-free shops, went one step further after the club’s 5,000/1 shock. A few weeks before the following season, he presented each player with BMW i8s which are worth £100,000 each. PL NEWS UNITED HOLD ON AGAINST EVERTON TO EASE PRESSURE ON JOSE NO HAZARD, NO WORRIES: RAMPANT CHELSEA THUMP BURNLEY PALACE SNATCH LATE PENALTY TO HALT ARSENAL’S WINNING RUN Beer was once again given out for free that year as a celebration for the owner’s birthday, as well as doughnuts and hot dogs. In April, Srivaddhanaprabha gave away 60 season tickets for free as part of a competition to celebrate his birthday. Srivaddhanaprabha and his family fell in love with Leicester despite originally owning a box at Stamford Bridge and being Chelsea fans. As quoted by the Sunday Times, he once said: “After spending time studying many clubs, I fell in love with Leicester. “One reason was the colours, which were the same as my company’s. The other was the fact they were playing in the second tier. If we bought a Premier League club, it wouldn’t be challenging enough.” This story originally appeared in The Sun. MORE LEICESTER NEWS WATCH: TV CAMERAS CAPTURE MOMENT PL OWNER’S HELICOPTER CRASHED ‘SPEECHLESS’: FOOTBALL WORLD HOLDS BREATH OVER PL HELICOPTER HORROR ‘THE WORLD HAS LOST A GREAT MAN’: DEVASTATING LEICESTER TRAGEDY CONFIRMED<doc-sep>
Fast News The helicopter belonging to Leicester City's owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed in the club's car park following Saturday's Premier League game against West Ham. Srivaddhanaprabha's condition is unknown. A Leicester City football fan places a scarf outside the football stadium, after the helicopter of the club owner Thai businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed when leaving the ground on Saturday evening. (Reuters) Leicester City soccer club chairman and owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was among five people who were on board a helicopter which crashed next to the club's stadium on Saturday, a source close to the club told Reuters news agency. Also on board the helicopter were a daughter of Vichai, two pilots and a fifth person whose identity was not immediately known, the source said on Sunday. There were no confirmed details on whether anyone on board the helicopter survived, the source said. The helicopter crashed in flames in a carpark next to the soccer club's stadium shortly after it took off from the field following a Premier League game on Saturday night. The central England team said it was assisting authorities with "a major incident" at the stadium, after eyewitnesses reported seeing the helicopter plummet to the ground soon after takeoff, about an hour after Leicester's match against West Ham. While there was no official statement immediately forthcoming about who was on board, or their condition, the BBC reported a source close to the Srivaddhanaprabha family as saying the club's 60-year-old chairman was on the helicopter. TRT World spoke with sports journalist Andy May in Leicester, UK, for more details. Several 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. Think of families, friends, responders, and (Leicester City) and their fans." The local ambulance service said in a statement: "We received a call at 8:38 pm 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." Leicester was bought in 2010 by billionaire Srivaddhanaprabha, who also owns Thai duty-free retail giant King Power. The team won the English Premier League at odds of 5,000-1 in 2016. Leicester players Harry Maguire and Wilfred Ndidi tweeted the emoji of praying hands. Thoughts from all at the Premier League are with everyone affected by tonight’s incident at @LCFC — Premier League (@premierleague) October 27, 2018 Officials at Thailand's King Power said on Sunday they could make no comment on the fate of Srivaddhanaprabha. Two King Power officials contacted by Reuters said they could neither confirm nor deny whether he was on board the helicopter. "We cannot say anything and no statement can be given yet," one of the King Power officials said. Nonetheless, Leicester City supporters say they fear the worst. Source: TRTWorld and agencies