Employee's family suing late Leicester owner



Former beauty queen Nusara Suknamai was one of five people killed when Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter crashed and burst into flames at the King Power Stadium last year, and her family filed a lawsuit in Thailand for 300m Thai baht on Monday.

Pinit Laksanavisit - the family's lawyer - said the suit was filed in the Bangkok Civil Court because Thai law holds the aircraft's owner responsible for any harm to passengers.

"Mr. Vichai was the owner of that helicopter and also there was the name of King Power on it," he told the Associated Press.

Pinit said Nussara's family had been in talks for more than 10 months with representatives of the Sriwatanaprapa family and King Power.

"It seems they are trying to get away from their responsibility," Pinit said, while also confirming an initial court hearing is scheduled for November 26 but his clients remain open to negotiating a settlement.

Aviation accident investigators determined the crash occurred when the pilot lost control of the aircraft shortly after take-off because of a mechanical fault.

Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch said last December that the mechanism linking the pilot's pedals with the tail rotor blades became disconnected, resulting in the helicopter making an uncontrollable right turn before it spun and crashed outside the stadium.

Nusara, 33, was a runner-up in 2005 Thailand's Miss Universe competition before entering Vichai's employment.

Vichai was one of Thailand's wealthiest businessmen, who prospered through his family's ownership of the King Power duty-free chain.

Before his death at age 63, Forbes magazine estimated his business empire to be worth £3.93billion ($4.88bn), making him the fifth-richest person in Thailand at the time.

He oversaw Leicester - as 5,000-1 outsiders - winning the Premier League title for the first time in 2016.

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