English Premier League club Leicester City has confirmed that their Thai billionaire owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, along with other four people on board, were killed when his helicopter crashed outside a stadium.
The club said on Sunday night that Srivaddhanaprabha, two members of his staff, the pilot and a passenger were killed when the aircraft crashed at about 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, in a parking lot next to the King Power Stadium in Leicester, reports CNN.
"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," it said in a statement.
The statement described the chairman as a "a man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led".
A book of condolences will be opened at the King Power Stadium starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the club said.
Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter was a familiar sight at the Leicester stadium, landing in the middle of the pitch to ferry its owner to and from home games.
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The crash occurred about an hour after Leicester City drew 1-1 against West Ham United on Saturday night.
Witnesses said the helicopter had barely cleared the 25 metre high stadium walls before making a loud noise, crashing to the ground and igniting in a large fireball.
Distraught fans set up a makeshift memorial for the owner before official confirmation that he was on the flight.
On Sunday morning before the club confirmed his death, a shirt adorned with the badges of Leicester City and Oud-Heverlee Leuven -- the Belgian second-division team also owned by Srivaddhanaprabha -- was propped up against the King Power Stadium, along with a framed picture of the Hindu deity Ganesh and a handful of flowers.
He bought the club for $57 million in 2010 and it was promoted to the Premier League in 2014, CNN reported.
In 2016, the club achieved the once-unthinkable feat of winning the premiership.
It went into the 2015-2016 season with odds of 5,000-1 to win but stunned fans, and bookmakers, by taking the title.
Srivaddhanaprabha was No. 388 on the Forbes' billionaires list, with a net worth of $4.9 billion. He made his fortune through the creation of the King Power chain of duty-free stores, Thailand's largest. The company sponsors the team's stadium.
--IANS
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