Crowds flock to the King Power stadium to pay respects to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the businessman who embraced the wider community and was showered with love in return

As the day wore on and the nightmare started to feel real, the crowd outside the King Power Stadium continued to grow. The air was heavy with tragedy and the floral tributes lying by the North Stand fluttered in a biting breeze, but the people kept coming. They watched in silence, numb with shock, and ignored the cold as they pulled their loved ones that bit closer and concentrated on representing a grieving community with dignity and pride.

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“It just felt right to come down here and pay my respects,” Daniel Connell, an 18-year-old Leicester City fan, said. Forcing the lump back down his throat, Connell tried to make sense of it all. The emotions were still too raw. It had been less than 24 hours since a helicopter carrying Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester’s owner, and four other people had crashed outside the stadium after the club’s 1-1 draw with West Ham on Saturday night. There was no point trying to be rational. It was almost too far-fetched to be true.

Away from the mass of well-wishers, however, and behind the police tape prohibiting any members of the public from walking towards the south-east corner of the stadium, a grim reality was unfolding. Police officers had cordoned of the crash site but you did not have to see it to feel its weight. Investigators were working to identify the victims and find out why the helicopter had fallen to ground shortly after taking off from the pitch. Ashen-faced Leicester officials tried their best to keep the media informed.

Football is supposed to offer an escape. Nobody expects to go to a Premier League game and see a helicopter spiral down to earth and erupt in flames an hour after the final whistle; a huge fire blazing in a nearby car park, with sirens blaring and security personnel desperately trying to usher people away from the scene. “We were just saying to each other on the way here,” one supporter said to a television crew. “Life can change so quickly.”

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The sense of loss was immense. Vichai became a Leicester legend after buying the club for a reported £39m in 2010. The 60-year-old Thai billionaire helped the east Midlands club earn promotion from the Championship in 2014 and his backing was instrumental when Leicester won their first ever Premier League title two years ago. It was the ultimate fairytale.

He's taken us where we are now. We might not have met him but he's had a massive impact on every Leicester fan's life Daniel Connell, Leicester City fan

Vichai made impossible dreams come true and the city showered him with love in return. Unlike some foreign owners, the secretive businessman embraced the wider community and Leicester supporters do not have a bad word to say about him. They talk affectionately about him handing out 60 free season tickets to mark his 60th birthday in April this year. They speak about him donating £2m towards building a new children’s hospital in Leicester, £1m to the city’s university medical department, £100,000 to the fund to rebury Richard III in 2015 and £23,000 to a fan who was raising money for research into MECP2 syndrome, his son’s rare genetic disorder.

“I struggled to sleep last night,” Connell said. “He’s taken us from being a second division side with no hope of going anywhere to what we’re doing now. Without him we wouldn’t be in the Premier League. Who’s to say where we would be? He’s had a great influence on the lives of everyone here. We might not have met him individually but he’s had a massive impact on every Leicester fan’s life.”

Vichai, who was ranked as the fifth richest person in Thailand with an empire worth £3.8bn, oversaw a £100m investment in a new training ground and there were plans to expand the stadium. It remains to be seen how the club will move forward. The expectation remains that Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester’s vice-chairman and Vichai’s son, will assume control. For the time being, however, speculation about football feels irrelevant.

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“To the family that has embraced our community, our thoughts are with you,” read one tribute. There was a picture of Vichai holding the league trophy on an open-top bus and, in recognition of Leicester’s nickname, a painting of a fox. There was a West Ham scarf. Fans of Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City laid shirts and a small boy in a yellow jacket helped his mother light some candles next to a Buddha statue. It all seemed so avoidable. Vichai, who was meant to fly to Luton airport before taking a private jet back to Thailand, had always travelled to home games in his blue and white helicopter. Supporters had grown used to hearing it zoom off into the distance. It was part of the routine.

“I came down for my first game when I was seven,” one supporter said. “I was 62 this year. Fifty-five years I’ve been supporting this club. I walked past where it crashed 10 minutes before. We saw the helicopter fly over and come into the ground on the way. It’s just the saddest day in the history of the club. They gave me the happiest day of my life when we won the league. It’s just sad. Tragic. It was the best football supporter’s story ever, wasn’t it? I’m just very emotional.”