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LEICESTER HELICOPTER CRASH: VICTIMS INCLUDE THAI BEAUTY QUEEN AND CO-PILOT’S GIRLFRIEND

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The five victims of the Leicester City helicopter crash have been named. The  include  its billionaire owner and his assistant,  a Thai beauty queen turned personal assistant. Others are  the hero pilot and his girlfriend who was also the co-pilot who potentially saved hundreds of lives by crashing away from crowds on the ground.

Leicester City Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, who bought the club for £39 million in 2010 and led it to a first Premier League title in 2016, was described as a ‘great man’ of ‘kindness’ and ‘generosity’.

Beauty queen Nursara Suknamai, his assistant Kaveporn Punpare and also pilot Eric Swaffer, who previously flew members of the Royal Family, and his girlfriend and co-pilot Izabela Roza Lechowicz all perished alongside him.

Pilot Eric Swaffer and his girlfriend, Izabela Lechowicz who was the co-pilot

The Leicester City owner’s helicopter was often flown by Swaffer, 53, who has posted pictures of the craft on social media. 

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He and his partner Izabela Lechowicz, 46 were from Camberley in Surrey and were part of the owner’s family’s close team.

Izabela Lechowicz, the co-pilot of the ill-fated helicopter

 Swaffer was a close friend of Israeli illusionist Uri Geller, 71, who had known the pilot for years.

Ex-beauty queen Nursara Suknamai also died at the scene. She came second in Miss Universe Thailand 2005 and an added Miss Photogenic accolade in the Bangkok-based contest the same year.

 

Ex-beauty queen Nursara Suknamai, also died

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Ms Suknami was also a fitness fanatic, often sharing workout and yoga videos to Instagram. She had also shared images of herself at Leicester games with the hashtag #foxes #lcfc and #fearless. 

Her last post on social media was four days ago, when she uploaded a smiling selfie with the caption ‘Wednesday #wednesday #redlipstick’.

After news of her death broke with the club statement last night, her social media pages were flooded with tributes.

One person wrote: ‘May you rest in peace you beautiful angel.’ 

 

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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