Leicester City helicopter crash: Owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha ‘among those on board’

Aircraft crashed into a car park shortly after the game with West Ham

Leicester City 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 investigation has told The Independent.

Witnesses said the helicopter seemed to spiral out of control moments after it set off from Leicester's King Power Stadium at about 8.30pm on Saturday and plummeted into an adjacent car park.

Another witness said he saw Leicester player Kasper Schmeichel run out of the stadium towards the scene of the crash.

Flowers and scarves outside the stadium (Reuters/Peter Nicholls) (REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)

A spokesman from Leicestershire Police said: “The aircraft came down in a car park near the stadium shortly after 8.30pm, with Leicestershire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service all responding to the incident.”

East Midlands Ambulance Service said the alarm was raised at 8.38pm and it sent a doctor, ambulance and team of paramedics alongside a hazardous area response team to the car park outside the stadium.

The club's owner is known for arriving and leaving the stadium in his helicopter at home games.

The website Planefinder said that Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's Agusta Westland AW169 helicopter set off from near Fairoaks Airport in Surrey at about 2.45pm on Saturday, and travelled into Fulham, west London, before turning north and proceeding to the King Power Stadium in Leicester.

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, who owns the King Power company, bought Leicester in 2010 and became chairman the following February, leading the club as they became Premier League champions in 2015-16.