Leicester City owner 'was onboard crashed helicopter

The owner of Leicester City was onboard his helicopter when it crashed in a ball of flames outside the football club's stadium, Sky sources say.

Witnesses told Sky Sports News the aircraft spiralled then crashed to the ground in a huge fireball in car park E - the club's staff car park which is about 200 metres from the stadium.

The helicopter understood to be carrying the club's Thai billionaire owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had taken off from the pitch seconds before at about 8.30pm.

Reuters news agency also said four other people were onboard, including Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's daughter, two pilots and a fifth person who has not been identified.

Fans who were still leaving the stadium after Leicester City drew 1-1 with West Ham were seen running away as the helicopter came down and burst into flames.

The stadium was evacuated soon after the crash and the area around it was closed off. West Ham's team bus had already left but some Leicester players were still inside the stadium.

 
Firefighters were seen putting the massive fire out. A man, who wished to not be named, but has held a season ticket for more than four decades, told Sky Sports News he saw goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel running out of the stadium seconds after the crash before "loads of security guards and stewards".

It has not been officially confirmed how many people were in the helicopter or how serious their injuries are, and it is not clear whether anyone on the ground was affected.

But there are fears the crash and resulting fireball could have left the pilot and passengers little chance of survival.

Footage of the wreckage on Sunday morning showed the helicopter was completely burnt-out.

 Who is Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha?
Who is Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha?
The billionaire is thought of fondly by fans - and not just for leading the club to the unlikeliest of Premier League titles
Sky Sports News reporter Rob Dorsett, at the scene, said: "At about 8.30 this evening, eyewitnesses told me they saw the Leicester City owner's helicopter take off from the pitch inside the King Power Stadium - as it does after every home game - and after a few seconds it appeared to lose control.

"It sounds as if there was a problem with the rear tail propeller which sent it spinning out of control and it crashed into the car park at the rear of the King Power Stadium, just a few hundred metres away from where the pitch is, before it burst into flames."

 

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha next to his helicopter at the King Power Stadium
After every home game a number of dignitaries are taken away from the stadium in the helicopter.

Vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, the owner's son who is known as Top, and the director of football, John Rudkin, were not on-board, according to Sky sources.




Police said: "We are dealing with an incident in the vicinity of the King Power Stadium. Emergency services are aware and dealing."

East Midlands Ambulance Service said it sent a doctor, ambulance and team of paramedics alongside a hazardous area response team to the car park.

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha was at the helm when the club shocked the football world by winning the 2015-16 Premier League title.



The helicopter is owned by Leicester City owner's Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha
Many fans stayed around the stadium out of concern for those in the helicopter, with a hush having spread through the supporters.

Leicester City fan John Butcher told Sky Sports News: "We were facing the ground from the bar across the road, I was with my nephew, we saw the helicopter spinning and it crashed within seconds then burst into flames.

"My nephew was in a real state of shock, he was so upset.

"The Srivaddhanaprabha family means everything to Leicester, they made us champions, you can't ask for more from owners - they won the league for us."

Jamie Vardy tweeted eight praying emojis
Image:
Jamie Vardy tweeted eight praying emojis
Tributes have been left outside the stadium

Flowers have been left outside the stadium as fans wait for news
Leicester's star striker Jamie Vardy tweeted eight praying emojis and former Leicester star Gary Lineker tweeted that his "thoughts are with everyone at Leicester City" after the crash, which he described as "heartbreaking".

A spokesman for Leicester City said they were assisting emergency services, adding: "The club will issue a more detailed statement once further information has been established."

The Air Accident Investigation Branch has started its investigation and is at the scene of the crash.

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Leah Sharibu’s abductors demand N100bn ransom – Diplomatic sources

Members of the factional Boko Haram sect, who kidnapped Leah Sharibu alongside no fewer than 109 students in Dapchi, Yobe State, early this year, have demanded N100bn ransom before the girl could be released, a diplomatic source told SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday.

The source, which claimed to be involved in the negotiation for the release of the schoolgirl, said there were fears that if given the money, the terrorists could use the cash to acquire weapons with which they would unleash terror on innocent Nigerians in the future.

Our correspondents gathered that the government was, however, considering the other implications of giving such huge sum of money to the terrorists.

The diplomatic sources argue that giving such huge sum of money to the terrorist organisation could also negatively affect national security ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The source said, “It is not that the government of Nigeria is not making efforts at getting Leah Sharibu out of the grips of the Boko Haram.

“But we are aware that the terrorist organisation holding her is demanding N100bn.  Though no amount is too much to get the soul of one innocent person out of danger, I think the government of Nigeria is considering many things.

“We all know that elections are ahead and that the terrorist organisation may also be planning to embark on inflicting damage on the people; government has to be careful and also be diplomatic about it.

“We are pleading that members of the Boko Haram sect be considerate in their demands as well. They should please release the girl to her parents.”

Efforts ongoing to rescue Boko Haram captives –DHQ

But the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, has reassured Nigerians that the military is making efforts to rescue all the captives of the Boko Haram terrorists, including Sharibu.

The Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen John Agim, who stated this on Saturday, said, “Be assured that the military is doing all it should to rescue all the captives in the Boko Haram’s hold. The Nigerian military is the creation of the Nigerian state and therefore, Boko Haram is a problem of the Nigerian state and the military is called upon to tackle the problem.

“Therefore, the military needs the cooperation of the state and its citizens to tackle the problem. Our citizens should not stand aloof or believe that Boko Haram is a problem only for the military. No, we require everyone’s cooperation to end this insurgency.”

  

Sharibu was one of the 110 pupils of the Government Technical and Science College, Dapchi, Yobe State, abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on February 19, 2018.

Also, following negotiations by the Federal Government with the insurgents, 104 of the abducted Dapchi girls were released.

It was however reported that five of the abducted girls had died and buried by the terrorists while Leah became the only one held back by the sect.

She was said to have been held back because of her refusal to renounce her faith as a Christian and embrace Islam.

The recent killings of two aid workers by the insurgents had further fuelled the fear that Leah could be killed if efforts were not made to rescue her in time.

However, the sect had announced that rather than execute the schoolgirl, she would be turned to a slave in its camp.

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Hillary Clinton's Spokesman, Tyrone Gayle, Dies at 30.

Tyrone Gayle at his wedding to Beth Foster in May. He worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign as well as for Senators Kamala Harris and Tim Kaine.


Tyrone Gayle, the Washington press secretary for Senator Kamala Harris and a veteran of Democratic campaigns, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 30.

His death, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, was caused by colon cancer, according to Lily Adams, Ms. Harris’s longtime communications director.

Despite his youth, Mr. Gayle had worked for several top Democrats, from his time as a driver and body man for Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia in 2012 to serving as a spokesman for the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state.

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2023 Zoning: Umahi reacts to Fashola’s claim that Buhari will return power to South West

The National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for South East, Deacon Austin Umahi has reacted to the claim by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, that President Muhammadu Buhari will return power to the South West in 2023.

Fashola had while speaking at a special Town Hall Meeting on organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Orientation Agency held in Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday called on the people of the South West to support Buhari’s second term bid in order to regain power in 2023.

Umahi described Fashola’s statement as an eye opener for the Igbo people in the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Speaking to newsmen, Umahi said, “That’s an eye opener to our so called brothers and sisters who are in the failed APC for their selfish interest and leaking pockets.”

He further stated that the statement by Fashola showed that the ruling party was disorganized and dr

“Most importantly, it is glaring that APC is drowning in all ramifications and Nigerians have rejected them and will demonstrate it in less than 112 days.

“Rebranded and repositioned PDP does not only have Nigeria collective interest but South East in particular.

“Am convinced that as a party built on fairness and equity, South East surely stands a better chance to take her equity share in Nigeria project come 2023, God’s willing.”

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2019: Emir Sanusi warns Nigerians against electing uneducated leaders

     
 


The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Saturday cautioned Nigerians against voting for uneducated political leaders.


According to Sanusi, a former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, uneducated leaders who were voted into power could not provide education for Nigerians.

He spoke at the 6th convocation ceremony of Nile University of Nigeria in Abuja.


According to the monarch, “We have to take an interest in the quality of our leaders and representatives in the level of education. If you look around this country at many levels of leadership, we have elected and we have chosen to elect people who do not have an education. And because they are not educated, they cannot give an education.

“We need to lay more emphasis on the quality of people we elect to executive and legislative offices and we need to make sure that those to whom we entrust policy are themselves educated and know the value of education.

“Let us invest more in education and let us give up some of the privileges that we have such as the trillions we are spending subsiding petroleum products. That money should go into educating our young people.


“We are spending too much monies on roads and bridges and trains and too little money educating our children. Let us educate these young people and they will build the roads, train and bridges. We do not need to invite the Chinese to do that for us. And until the leadership at all levels in this country and the followership understand that this is what is most important, because I do understand sometimes that if a governor does not build roads or bridges, he is seen as not have been performed by the people.

“We build all these highways and there are more pedestrians on the highways than cars and those pedestrians are most often people without education and help. Development is first and foremost about people.”

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Queen to 'stand aside at 95 allowing Charles to reign as regent' in just three years

The Queen promised to serve her country for the rest of her life - but it has long been speculated that Prince Charles could reign as a regent sooner than expected








The Queen could stand aside at 95 allowing Charles to reign as regent in just three years time, according to an explosive new biography.

On her coronation in 1953, the Queen promised to serve her country for the rest of her life.

But it has long been speculated that Prince Charles could reign as a regent sooner than expected.

Now, in revelations in a new book by veteran royal correspondent Robert Jobson, it's suggested the Queen could pass on her duties as monarch when she reaches 95, reports Mail Online .

Earlier this year, Charles was appointed the Queen's successor as Head of the Commonwealth - currently made up of fifty-three sovereign states.


Prince Charles 'wanted to pull out of wedding to Diana' and knew marriage would be 'massive mistake'
In a speech at Buckingham Palace to leaders of the commonwealth, the Queen said: "It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity to future generations, and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949."

The royal family's has had one famous abdication - that of Edward VIII, the Queen's Uncle.

His stepping down from the throne was one of the biggest scandals to ever hit the royal family, with the Queen's father George V becoming monarch.

Despite rumours of the Queen stepping back, royal commentator Richard Fitziwilliams told Express.co.uk the abdication of the 92-year-old monarch’s uncle Edward VIII “haunted” the royal family and Elizabeth II remains committed to her duty to the nation.

He said although Charles’s “whole life has been a preparation for kingship”, the Queen will want succession to occur “naturally".

Charles was voted as the Queen's successor as Head of the Commonwealth earlier this year.


Other revelations in the new royal biography include details on Charles's alleged worries about marrying Princess Diana and how he knew it was a 'massive mistake'.

The future king, 69, has revealed he let himself, Diana and the Royal Family down by going ahead with the 'doomed' wedding despite his overwhelming doubts - which at one point reduced him to tears.

The brutal bombshell was dropped by Robert Jobson, a royal reporter for nearly three decades, who has spent 18 months accompanying Charles on official tours around the world and has now written a book on the prince.


Charles spent 15 years married to Diana. He proposed on February 3, 1981, but Diana felt it was "like a call to duty."

They wedded at St Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981 and divorced on August 28, 1996 - a year before the princess died .

According to Jobson, alarm bells began to ring for Charles about Diana during the few meetings they had before tying the knot.

He apparently realised they were not compatible when she burst into tears and would 'stare blankly' at him when he spoke of what he had done during the day.



 Prince Harry - even when they're holding hands
The more he saw of Diana, the more the prince knew in his heart he had made a terrible mistake, Jobson wrote in the Daily Mail , which is serialising the new biography.

The author also claims the prince found Diana's 'alarming and irrational mood swings and temper impossible to deal with'.

Charles is said to have told pals: "I desperately wanted to get out of the wedding in 1981, when during the engagement I discovered just how awful the prospects were, having had no chance whatsoever to get to know Diana beforehand."

But despite his overwhelming doubts and cold feet, Charles went ahead with the wedding - watched by 750 million.

The decision is something he still regrets to this day and he has agonised over it for years, Jobson came to discover following conversations with the prince, people close to him, and inside sources.

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The Economist’s endorsement vindicates me, says Atiku

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that his latest endorsement by The Economist Magazine, has put to lies the recent claims made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the international media is askance of his (Atiku’s) candidature.

Atiku said the newspaper’s endorsement was the second having been endorsed by Policy magazine.

The former Vice-President said that the endorsement was based on the clarity of vision and the detailed policies of his  candidate when compared to what he called “the vague and empty promises of the incumbent All Progressives Congress administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Atiku, in a statement from his media office in Abuja on Friday, said that as ‘the Economist’ rightly states, the issues in 2019 are “popular frustration over the rise in joblessness and poverty (two of the biggest voter concerns) on Mr. Buhari’s watch, as well as growing insecurity in central Nigeria.”

He added, “No other candidate has the capacity to address these challenges, like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, under whose watch as Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, Nigeria had her highest growth in job numbers.

“Indeed, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, is poised to translate the significant success he has made in his private business empire to the public sector.

“This anticipation is responsible for the momentum he now enjoys in all the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

“For the past one year, Mr. Abubakar has traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria, selling his plans, vision and policies to Nigerians.

“Unfortunately, rather than do the same, the All Progressive Congress has focused on negative campaigning by slandering Mr. Abubakar’s past.

“We are not surprised by their actions. When a man’s future intimidates people, they focus on lying about his past because they cannot compete in the present. However, we thank The Economist for proving that no matter how far and fast falsehood has travelled, it must eventually be overtaken by the truth.”

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