Unic Press UK: Thai billionaire and Leicester City football club owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others died Saturday in a helicopter crash which occurred less than an hour after watching the English premier league match between Leicester City FC and West Ham FC.
Nursara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz also died in the accident.
Srivaddhanaprabha, who is the founder of the King Power Group and Chairman of Leicester City Football Club, bought Leicester City for £39 million [or $50 million] in 2010. And six years later, they won the 2015/16 English premier league title.
In 2016, the University of Leicester conferred on him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws for his outstanding contributions to the community, football, business and charity.
In a statement, the club said:
“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.
“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.
“A book of condolence, which will be shared with the Srivaddhanaprabha family, will be opened at King Power Stadium from 8am on Tuesday 30 October for supporters wishing to pay their respects.”
