Leicester City owner's helicopter crashes in car park after match

[Eugene]

Source: The Observer

Leicester City owner’s helicopter crashes in car park after match

• Fears for safety of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha after crash
• Helicopter crashed shortly after take-off from stadium

Jacob Steinberg at the King Power Stadium
Sat 27 Oct 2018 21.10 BST

A helicopter believed to be carrying Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester City’s chairman, crashed outside the King Power Stadium following Leicester’s home draw with West Ham United on Saturday night.

The identity of the passengers was unknown in the immediate aftermath, despite unconfirmed reports that Srivaddhanaprabha was on board, and it was unclear if there were any survivors. The incident occurred around an hour after the final whistle.

The owner’s helicopter crashed in a car park near the south-east corner of the stadium shortly after taking off from the pitch at around 8.30pm.

Eyewitness reports indicated that the helicopter just cleared the roof of the stands, stayed in the air briefly and spiralled down to earth after reportedly developing a fault with its tail rotor. There were reports of a huge fireball erupting. Witnesses said there was a smell of acrid smoke in the area. Emergency services rushed to the scene to tackle the fire and search the wreckage.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/oct/27/leicester-city-owners-helicopter-crash-car-park

[dawg day]

1. That sounds bad-

I hope no one on the ground was hurt too.

[nitpicker]

2. Link to live updates from The Guardian (owner now believed to have been on board)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2018/oct/28/leicester-city-helicopter-crash-latest-updates

[nitpicker]

3. Latest in thread 10:02 GMT from Reuters

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, according to the news agency Reuters. Also on board the helicopter were a daughter of Vichai, two pilots and a fifth person whose identity was not immediately known, a source close to the club said on Sunday. There were no confirmed details on whether anyone on board the helicopter survived, the source said.

[nitpicker]

4. Link to BBC live updates

https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/46008881


6:33

Club assisting police

For those of you wondering if there is any more news forthcoming, I'd urge patience.

Understandably, it is a complicated picture at the King Power Stadium as authorities investigate what has happened. Leicester City say they are assisting Leicestershire Police and will issue a statement once more information has been confirmed.

Posted at 6:29

People are starting to arrive in more and more numbers, by the dozens now. A small memorial has been set up outside of turnstiles 54 and 57, which is next to the club shop.

There is a memorial which has been gated off and there is a picture of Ganesha, who is an important Hindu figure. Next to that there are lots of bunches of flowers laid and propped up against the stadium. I can see two dozen people standing by the memorial and looking, simply looking, and not knowing how to react and how to deal with what’s going on.

There is only a small section of the ground that is open. There is a police cordon to my left and the crash site is behind that, no more than 400-500 yards away.
(snip)