The owner of Leicester City Football Club’s helicopter has crashed outside the stadium

By Jason Cairnduff LEICESTER, England (Reuters) – A helicopter belonging to Leicester City soccer club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed in a ball of flames in the club’s car park on Saturday after a Premier League match, British media said. It was not known whether Vichai, father of four and founder of duty-free giant King Power International, was in the helicopter when it went out of control and crashed just meters from the pitch about an hour after the game ended. According to eyewitnesses, the helicopter just cleared the top of the stadium before it began to spin. It then fell to the ground and burst into flames. A spokesman for the Midlands club said: “We are assisting Leicestershire Police and the emergency services to deal with a major incident at the King Power Stadium.” Police and ambulance services have urged people to stay away. John Butcher, who was near the stadium at the time of the crash, told the BBC his nephew saw the helicopter go out of control apparently because of a faulty rear propeller. “Within a second it dropped like a stone to the floor… Fortunately it spiraled for a little while and everyone ran, kind of scattered. As far as we know, no one around the parking lot has been caught by this problem. .” In Thailand, King Power officials said they could not yet comment on the crash or say whether Vichai was on board. Vichai is a big fan favorite after buying the unhinged team from central England in 2010, and they stunned the football world by winning the league title in 2016. According to Forbes magazine, he is the fifth richest person in Thailand with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion.Leicestershire Police said a team from The Department for Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been investigating the cause of the crash.ENGLISH CHAMPIONS Having pumped millions of pounds into the club, he helped guide them back to the top flight in 2014 before they stunned the sport, beating the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea to become champions of England. Top players from the team, including Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire, sent messages of support on Twitter, while rival clubs, including Manchester City, and – they expressed concern. Freelance photographer Ryan Brown covered the match and saw the helicopter clear the stadium before it crashed, the BBC reported. “Literally the engine cut out and I turned around and it made a bit of noise,” Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It went quiet, the blades started spinning and then there was a big bang.” Leicester played a home league game against West Ham United earlier on Saturday, drawing 1-1. Self-made businessman Vichai founded Thai duty-free giant King Power in 1989. The duty-free business got a big boost in 2006 when it was granted an airport monopoly under the government of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and has continued to prospered even after Thaksin was ousted in a coup that year. The family empire also includes the Belgian football club, Oud-Heverlee Leuven. (Reporting by Jason Cairnduff; Additional reporting by Neville Dalton; Writing by Kate Holton; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Hugh Lawson/Ken Ferris and Michael Perry)