The owner of English Premier League club Leicester City FC, Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, has died after his helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the club's home ground. He was 60 years old.
The crash occurred about an hour after the full-time whistle following Leicester's 1–1 draw with West Ham on Saturday. Vichai's arrival and departure via helicopter was a regular occurrence during home games.
At first, very little information was known about the crash other than the helicopter belonged to Vichai.
Rumours circled in the media that Leicester's coach, Claude Puel, was on board. People also queried whether England's national team manager, Gareth Southgate, was on the aircraft after he was spotted at the game.
Both Puel and Southgate confirmed they were not on board the helicopter late on Sunday evening.
In a statement on its Twitter account, Leicester confirmed its chairman had died in the crash along with four other unnamed people. No passengers survived the crash.
"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," said the statement.
"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."
Vichai bought Leicester City in 2010 and poured millions into the club. The founder, owner, and chair of Thailand's largest duty-free retailer, King Power Duty Free, famously helped the club achieve what many would call the most shocking accomplishment in football history, when Leicester won the Premier League despite 5,000/1 odds.
After their triumph in English football, Vichai bought each of the players their own BMW i8. Many of the stars from the club's title-winning campaign in 2015/16 released messages of sadness on Monday morning.
Struggling to find the right words....but to me you are legend, an incredible man who had the biggest heart, the soul of Leicester City Football Club. Thank you for everything you did for… https://t.co/FzTaXVejUg
Words can’t describe how I feel. A truly great, kind, loving man who will be missed so much by everyone. I will never forget the Chairman’s support, not only during my time @LCFC but also during the World Cup 😢 RIP ❤ #TheBoss https://t.co/66aGjGGwX9
Thank you ❤️ #theboss #lcfc
Leicester's title-winning goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel issued an emotional two-page statement in which he thanked Vichai for "literally making my dreams come true."
"You inspired me and I believed in you," he wrote. "You made me feel like nothing was impossible. Without you and your family, all this, everything we did together everything we achieved would never have happened. You gave me experiences that only happen in fantasy."
People have also begun leaving flowers at the base of Leicester's King Power Stadium in memorial.
Vichai was also a major figure in the greater Leicester community, donating £2 million towards the construction of a new children's hospital in the city.