King Power and Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was on board the helicopter that crashed in a ball of flames in the club’s stadium car park last night after a Premier League match in Leicester, British media reported.

The Sun said the eight-seater helicopter belonging to 60-year-old chairman had flown from the King Power Stadium pitch live on TV moments before the explosion.

The helicopter took off at around 8.45pm and nosedived in a ball of flames less than 200 yards away just seconds later.

It quoted the Thai billionaire’s company King Power as reportedly confirming Vichai was on board when a failure upon take off resulted in a fire on board moments before the crash. 

A source close to the family told the BBC he was in his helicopter when it crashed.

But officials at Thailand’s King Power said this morning they could make no comment on the incident.

Two King Power officials contacted by Reuters said they could neither confirm nor deny whether Vichai was on board the helicopter.

“We cannot say anything and no statement can be given yet,” one of the King Power officials said.