(Sing Tao Daily Report) After Leicester City's 1-1 match against West Ham in the Premier League last Saturday, a serious accident occurred outside the King Power Stadium, home of Leicester City.The private helicopter of Vichai Licheng, the Thai-Chinese team leader, lost control and crashed after taking off, and the parking lot near the stadium turned into a sea of flames.The media quoted sources as reporting that there were five people on board, including Vichai and two pilots, and the identity of the remaining two is unknown.
The incident happened at about 8:30 p.m. local time on Saturday night, about 40 minutes after the end of the Premier League game, Vichai's private helicopter took off from the middle circle of the stadium.Witnesses said that the helicopter flew over the stadium, but lost control in the air a few seconds later, the engine stopped suddenly, the helicopter circled in the air, and crashed in a parking lot only a few hundred meters away from the stadium.The pictures taken at the scene showed that the helicopter was surrounded by raging fire after it fell to the ground.
Photographers at the scene said thick smoke was coming out of the helicopter cabin.It was reported that after the plane fell to the ground, a policeman rushed forward and tried to open the plane door to save people, but the plane exploded soon and the policeman was forced to leave.
Listershire Police did not release the news until Sunday afternoon. They only confirmed the time and location of the incident, but did not say who was on board and whether they survived.British media said five people were on board the plane at the time of the incident, including two pilots.
The BBC and Reuters respectively quoted sources close to the football club and Vichai's family as saying that Vichai himself was on board.Initial reports suggested that one of Vichai's daughters (he has two daughters) was on board, but club sources denied this.
By convention, Vichai will leave the King Power Stadium by helicopter with his family after the game.Aiyawat, the vice-chairman of Li Cheng and the son of Vichai, is in Thailand and did not watch the game on Saturday.
The authorities dispatched fire trucks, doctors, ambulancemen, ambulances and disaster area response teams, etc., and arrived at the scene two minutes after receiving the report. It took 20 minutes to extinguish the fire.It was initially suspected that the tail rotor failed shortly after takeoff, causing the helicopter to lose control.The club stated that it will cooperate with the police and emergency departments in the investigation.
It is understood that the model of the helicopter involved in the accident was Augusta Westland AW-169, which was designed and manufactured by the Italian company Agusta Westland. It can carry up to ten passengers and is equipped with two high-performance PW210A engines with 1,100 horsepower.
The BBC quoted eyewitnesses at the scene as saying that the helicopter hit the ground like a stone and made a loud noise.Brown, a freelance photographer who witnessed the incident, told BBC Radio 5: "No exaggeration, the engine just stopped, I turned my head, it was whirring, then there was a dead silence, the propellers started spinning, and then there was a loud crashing sound..”
The British media pointed out that Lee City goalkeeper Kasper Schumigau rushed out of the field immediately after learning of the accident, and cried into tears after seeing the crash scene.The legendary Lee City goalkeeper Shi Ludun witnessed the accident on his way home and expressed his shock.The team's forward Jamie Huadi and defender Harry Maguni tweeted only a few prayer gestures Emoji on Twitter; the rival Manchester City team also expressed condolences.
Sotheby, the mayor of Lester City, tweeted: "My thoughts and prayers are with all of you, especially those who have done so much for the team and our city."
Many people gathered outside the King Power Stadium on Sunday and sent flowers to pray for blessings.The fans of the team were hit hard. One of the fans named Patel said: "I'm really sad and can't sleep." He said that the charismatic Vichai means a lot to him and has paid a lot for the club.The club has also developed very well after he joined, I don't know what will happen in the future.
Another fan, Rivers, brought a "champion" scarf to pay tribute to Vichai.He said: "You know where we were when he bought the club, we were nothing. So I put down my championship scarf because he made us champions."
