Its prayers and disbelief as Leicester city’s helicopter crush has left people in the dark about the victims who were in the plane and the resulting fate.The helicopter belonging to the owner of Leicester City Football Club crashed in a parking lot of the King Power stadium, bursting into flames.
Images showed orange balls of flame engulfing the wreckage in the car park at King Power Stadium the scene of unbridled jubilation after Leicester’s against-all-odds Premier League title victory in 2016.
Literally the engine stopped and I turned around, and it made a bit of a whirring noise. It turned silent, blades started spinning and then there was a big bang,” freelance photographer Ryan Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live.
None of the identities of the pilot or passengers was revealed, and there was also no information about whether anyone on the ground was injured. “We are assisting Leicestershire Police and the emergency services in dealing with a major incident at King Power Stadium,” the club said in a statement.
“I can’t get to sleep over it, because it means a lot to me, he did a lot for the club,” Leicester City supporter Anti Patel told AFP.
Expression of concern poured in from around the football world, in Britain and beyond. England legend Gary Lineker, a former Leicester player and host of the BBC’s Match of the Day, tweeted: “That was the most difficult @BBCMOTD I’ve ever hosted… A terrible tragedy. Heartbreaking.”
Leicester stars Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire both tweeted emojis of hands held up in prayer. Nualphan Lamsam, also known as Madam Pang, an influential figure in Thai football who manages the national women’s team, sent “moral support to Vichai and family” in a post on Facebook.
And ordinary fans in central Bangkok said Vichai helped develop Thailand’s football as well, bringing the Southeast Asian country greater recognition in the sports world. “He is an important person who has raised the bar of Thai football further,” Apichart Jitratkavee, a Leicester fan in the Thai capital, told AFP.