The King Power Stadium won’t be the site of fixtures today as kin, players, and supporters alike continue to pour in following the helicopter crash that has claimed the lives of five people including Leicester City chair Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. Now, the insurer for the crash has been revealed.
The beloved Thai tycoon, who bought the English football club in 2010 for £39 million, was being transported by an AgustaWestland AW169 when the accident took place about 200 metres away from the stadium after the game against West Ham United.
“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,” said Leicester City in a statement.
“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.”
Meanwhile the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which has recovered the digital flight data recorder, continues to work with the police on site.
“We expect to be here until the end of the week, at which point we will transport the wreckage to our specialist facilities in Farnborough for more detailed examination,” noted the AAIB in an update. “In the meantime, we are still gathering evidence as part of our investigation.
“Witnesses to the accident, particularly with videos or photographs, are urged to contact Leicestershire Police on 101, quoting incident number 546 of October 27, 2018.”
Italian manufacturer Leonardo Helicopters, which has offered its condolences, said it is ready to support the AAIB with the probe to determine the cause of the accident – the first one involving an AW169 helicopter.
“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,” was how Leicester City described Srivaddhanaprabha, for whom a book of condolence opened at 8am today at King Power Stadium.
“Leicester City was a family under his leadership,” stated the club. “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.”
