Leicestershire Police Name Victims of the Helicopter Crash at King Power Stadium

More tributes pour in from players EFL Cup fixture against Southampton postponed

Leicestershire Police yesterday named the people killed in Saturday’s helicopter crash that claimed Leicester City FC owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha to include; Nursara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz.

The Leicester City FC owner, two members of staff, the pilot and a passenger, all died after the aircraft spiralled out of control outside the King Power Stadium ground.

A team investigating Saturday night’s crash has recovered the aircraft’s digital flight data recorder.

The club chairman’s wife Aimon and son Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha joined grieving fans and players of the club to lay a wreath at the club’s stadium yesterday.

The President of the Thai FA, Somyot Poompanmoung and his wife, Potjaman Poompanmoung were among some of the callers at the stadium to pay their tribute to the late club owner.

The club’s first team and youth squad are also at the King Power Stadium.

Manager Claude Puel joined his players, while vice-chairman Aiyawatt returned to see the tributes after arriving earlier in the morning when around 200 fans broke into spontaneous applause.

Personalities from the sport and entertainment industries have also been outside the stadium, including the lead singer of Leicester rock band Kasabian, Tom Meighan.

Mr Meighan, who joined grieving supporters, said the death of club owner Mr Vichai was like “losing a member of your family”.

Club ambassador Alan Birchenall said Leicester City owed “everything” to Mr Vichai.

“There won’t be a dry eye among any of the staff today,” he added.

Many of the players have paid tribute to Mr Vichai on social media, including club captain Wes Morgan.

He tweeted: “Absolutely heartbroken and devastated regarding the news of our chairman. A man that was loved and adored by everyone here at LCFC.”

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said inspectors would be at the crash site until the end of week before transporting the wreckage to specialist facilities in Farnborough.

“In the meantime, we are still gathering evidence as part of our investigation,” a spokesman said.

Italian aerospace company Leonardo, which built the helicopter, said it was “first ever accident involving an AW169 helicopter” and it was “ready to support the AAIB”.

Witnesses have been urged to contact Leicestershire Police.

Meanwhile, Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel led his team-mates in paying tribute to “dedicated and passionate” owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.