A HELICOPTER belonging to Leicester City’s owner — Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha — crashed in flames in a carpark next to the soccer club’s stadium shortly after it took off from the field following a Premier League game Saturday night.

The central England team said it was assisting authorities with “a major incident” at the stadium, after eyewitnesses reported seeing the helicopter plummet to the ground soon after takeoff, about an hour after Leicester’s match against West Ham.

While there was no official statement immediately forthcoming about who was on board, or their condition, the BBC reported a source close to the Srivaddhanaprabha family as saying the club’s 60-year-old chairman was on the helicopter.

Some seven hours after the crash, police had still made no public statements about casualties.

However, in the early hours yesterday, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer Andrew Brodie tweeted that the accident was “clearly serious and tragic,” adding “please don’t speculate on cause or who may be involved. Think of families, friends, responders, and (Leicester City) and their fans.”

Humphrey announced later on air: “The helicopter has crashed. It has crashed in the club carpark ... we heard a commotion.”

The local ambulance service said it received reports of a helicopter crash at 8:38 p.m. local time.(SD-Agencies)