Leicester owner killed in stadium helicopter crash
Two personal assistants and two crew also perish This is a tragedy for the club, says manager Puel
Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed in the helicopter crash on Saturday night along with the four other people on board in a tragedy which has stunned the football world.
Srivaddhanaprabha’s helicopter plummeted to the ground and erupted in flames an hour after Leicester City’s 1-1 draw with West Ham United, and the 60-year-old was on board with two personal assistants, the pilot and a passenger. They were last night named as Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, Eric Swaffer and Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
The billionaire’s helicopter was heading for Luton Airport, where he was then scheduled to fly back to his native Thailand, but an apparent mechanical failure ended in a disaster which has left the Premier League club in mourning.
Leicester confirmed the news in a statement late last night, saying: “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 primary thoughts of everyone at the Club are with the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss. In Khun Vichai, the world has lost a great man. 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. 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.”
The club will open a book of condolence at the King Power Stadium at 8am tomorrow and have also confirmed that tomorrow’s Carabao Cup tie with Southampton has been postponed, as has the development squad’s fixture against Feyenoord in the Premier League International Cup.
The club also thanked the “remarkable response of the football family” and a number of emotional tributes were paid to Srivaddhanaprabha by Leicester players and clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was seen in tears after the incident, said that Srivaddhanaprabha had made him believe “the impossible was possible” after their stunning title victory, while club captain Wes Morgan said he was distraught, stating that the 60-year-old was “loved and adored”
An investigation is now well underway into a crash that occurred, witnesses said, when the “engine stopped” in the air, before the Agustawestland AW169 plunged to the ground at around 8.45pm. It was claimed last night the pilot averted an even bigger disaster by directing the malfunctioning helicopter towards the south-east corner of the stadium and away from many fans in the car parks leaving after the game.
It took more than 20 minutes for the flames to be extinguished before emergency services were able to survey the wreckage. Sources at Leicester said there were no other casualties on the ground when the helicopter crashed.
Leicester’s vice-chairman, Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, who is Vichai’s son, was not at the game and flew over from Thailand to meet with officials yesterday.
It was suggested that Jon Rudkin, the club’s director of football, was supposed to be joining the party on the helicopter before a late change of plans. There were also inaccurate reports that Claude Puel, Leicester’s manager, was on board but he had just finished his media duties when the helicopter took off.
Puel said: “It’s a tragedy for the club. I think very strongly about the victims and their families. I wanted to reassure everyone who cares about me, I’m terribly sad but I’m fine.”
Sven-goran Eriksson, the former England manager, was the first appointment by the Srivaddhanaprabha family and said: “What he has done for Leicester is incredible. He made the club from second division up to first division, and made the club a big Premier League club today, fantastic.”