Leicester, England (AP) — The Thai billionaire owner of English Premier League team Leicester City was among five people who died after his helicopter crashed and burst into flames shortly after taking off from the soccer field, the club said Sunday.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a 60-year-old entrepreneur who owns Thai duty-free retail giant King Power, bankrolled Leicester’s improbable league title triumph in 2016.
“The world has lost a great man,” Leicester said in a statement. “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.”
Two members of Vichai’s staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, also died along with pilot Eric Swaffer and passenger Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
Vichai bought Leicester for 39 million pounds in 2010 when it was in the second-tier Championship and funded the revival that peaked with the 5,000-1 outsiders producing one of the greatest upsets in sports by winning the title.
“I always believed in the power of our spirit,” Vichai said in 2016. “It drove us to reach the Premier League, it gave us the strength to stay in the Premier League, and now it has inspired us to win the Premier League.
“It is a spirit that has spread beyond Leicester, taking our story to the hearts of the world. Our spirit exists because of the love we share for each other and the energy it helps to create, both on and off the pitch, and in the years to come, it will continue to be our greatest asset.”
Vichai was known for arriving and leaving the stadium in central England in his helicopter. After Saturday’s game against West Ham, the helicopter took off from the center circle on the field and cleared the stadium roof before plummeting to the ground in an adjacent carpark in a ball of flames.
“It is likely to take several days to fully complete the necessary work and to safely deal with the scene of this tragic accident,” Leicestershire Police Superintendent Steve Potter said.
Leicester’s next game, which was scheduled for Tuesday against Southampton in the League Cup, has been postponed.
“Everyone at the club has been truly touched by the remarkable response of the football family, whose thoughtful messages of support and solidarity have been deeply appreciated at this difficult time,” Leicester City said.
In 1989, Vichai was granted a license to open Thailand’s first downtown duty-free store. Expansion into Thai airports followed, with King Power ultimately granted a monopoly for duty-free stores at all the country’s main airports.
Today the King Power empire is worth 3.8 billion pounds ($4.88 billion), according to Forbes, with Vichai having been the fifth-richest person in Thailand.
His family’s empire also included Accor’s Pullman hotels in Thailand, and a $226 million stake, bought in 2016, in the country’s biggest budget airline, Thai AirAsia. Last year, Vichai also enlarged his soccer interests, buying Belgian second-tier club Oud-Heverlee Leuven.
Aside from business and soccer, Vichai quickly became a noted polo devotee in England, playing on occasion with Princes Charles and William. He spent millions establishing his polo team, the King Power Foxes, which began in 2014 and has enjoyed success at the top levels of competition in the U.K.
The outpouring of emotion at the Leicester City stadium on Sunday reflected how highly the ownership is regarded in the city, which has only one professional soccer team. Vichai has formed a close bond with the fans, sometimes mingling with them at games, in contrast to some Premier League owners who maintain a distance.
Vichai has been praised for his charity work, donating 2 million pounds toward a new local children’s hospital, and he often provided free beer and food for fans outside stadiums.
“They’ve brought so much to the club, and given the fans so much to like them for,” said Ian Bason, chairman of the Foxes Trust supporters’ group. “And not just that, because they’ve also invested in the local hospitals too. So they’ve done things well outside what most football club owners would do.”
A devout Buddhist who had monks bless the King Power Stadium regularly for good luck, Vichai and his wife, Aimon Srivaddhanaprabha, had four children.
He was born Vichai Raksriaksorn, but in 2012, HM the King of Thailand recognized his achievements by bestowing on his family their new surname, which means “light of progressive glory.”
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