Leicester, Oct 28 (AP/UNB) — A helicopter belonging to Leicester City's owner crashed in flames in a carpark next to the soccer club's stadium shortly after it took off from the field following a Premier League game on Saturday.

The central England team said it was assisting authorities with "a major incident" at the stadium but there were no details about who was on board or their condition.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch is working alongside the emergency services and the club to "establish the exact circumstances of the collision," Leicestershire Police said in a statement.

Billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who owns Thai duty-free retail giant King Power, bought Leicester in 2010 and provided the funds that helped the team improbably win the Premier League at odds of 5,000-1 in 2016.

Leicester has not said if its owner was on the helicopter. In a scene regularly seen after matches, Vichai's aircraft arrived in the King Power Stadium after Saturday's 1-1 draw against West Ham before taking off from the center circle more than an hour after full time.

Photographer Ryan Brown reported hearing the engine stopping after the helicopter cleared the stadium.

"I turned round and it made a bit of a whirring noise, like a grinding noise," Brown told the BBC. "The helicopter just went silent, I turned round and it was just spinning, out of control. And then there was a big bang and then (a) big fireball."

British broadcaster BT Sport was presenting its post-game show in the stadium when the helicopter took off.

"It suddenly got very serious," BT presenter Jake Humphrey announced later on air. "The helicopter has crashed. It has crashed in the club carpark ... we heard a commotion."

The local ambulance service said it received reports of a helicopter crash at 8:38 p.m. local time and sent a doctor, two paramedics in ambulance cars, a crewed ambulance and its Hazardous Area Response Team.

"The first resource (arrived) within two minutes of the call," the ambulance service said.

An indication of concerns within the Leicester squad came on social media.

The emoji of praying hands was tweeted by several players, including striker Jamie Vardy, whose goals helped the 134-year-old team win the English title for the first time in 2016.

The competition's organizers tweeted: "Thoughts from all at the Premier League are with everyone affected by tonight's incident."

Mexico, Oct 25 (AP/UNB) — Emergency workers and federal troops struggled to reach beach towns left incommunicado by a blow from Hurricane Willa, and the storm continued to force evacuations Wednesday due to fear of flooding even as it dissipated over northern Mexico. Thousands of homes were still without power.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or missing people, but the storm's 120 mph (195 kph) winds damaged a hospital, knocked out power, toppled wood-shack homes and ripped metal roofing off other houses in the Sinaloa state municipality of Escuinapa when it came ashore Tuesday evening.

Nearly 102,000 homes in Sinaloa lost electricity after the storm made landfall, the head of the state electricity company said on Twitter. Service had been restored to about 62 percent of those.

The state civil defense office said the hospital's ceiling and some other areas were damaged in Escuinapa.

The worst damage was expected to be in the handful of coastal communities that were cut off by road and without communications. Workers were trying to remove toppled power poles and trees blocking the roads.

In the farming neighborhood of Pueblo Nuevo, a half mile (kilometer) from Escuinapa's center, neighbors cried when describing how the wind swept up their tin roofs and wooden house frames while they sheltered under their heaviest furniture.

Ruben Avila and his wife, Juana, told The Associated Press they were disappointed that government officials had not yet arrived with help, as they sat among their scattered belongings under pouring rain Wednesday. Mattresses and remains of their belongings lay soaked on the ground.

Meanwhile, pictures on social media depicted plastic-wrapped mattresses supposedly donated to Sinaloa residents after the storm in the name of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the jailed leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Mexican drug lord was extradited to New York in 2017 to face trafficking charges.

In neighboring Nayarit state, Gov. Antonio Echevarria asked the federal government to send a helicopter, boats and rescue equipment. He said the state was trying to evacuate people in communities at risk of flooding. A government-run hospital shared pictures of a baby delivered in Acaponeta as the storm passed through.

The Interior Department announced late Wednesday that 12,000 soldiers, 3,800 sailors and 120 federal police officers had been sent to help. It said federal aircraft also were being deployed.

Before hitting the mainland near Isla del Bosque, Willa swept over an offshore penal colony about 60 miles (100 kilometers) out in the Pacific. Federal authorities declined to comment on precautions that were taken at the prison, citing security concerns, but said the safety of inmates was a priority.

Willa peaked as a Category 5 storm with winds of 155 mph (250 kph) over the Pacific on Monday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm rapidly lost force and dissipated over northern Mexico Wednesday morning. Rain from Willa continued to fall across 10 Mexican states after the cyclone was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Concern about rains led Durango state to say it was evacuating 200 people threatened by possible spills from the Santa Elena dam. In Nayarit, the fire department urged residents in villages near the Acaponeta river to "evacuate immediately" as the river rose to dangerous levels.

Willa came ashore about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of  Mazatlan, a resort city that is home to high-rise hotels and about 500,000 people, including many U.S. and Canadian expatriates.

Torrential rains began in the afternoon, and emergency officials said they had evacuated more than 4,250 people in coastal towns and set up 58 shelters ahead of the storm. Schools were ordered closed.

Mexico City, Oct 23 (AP/UNB) — A potential catastrophic Hurricane Willa swept toward Mexico's Pacific coast with winds of 150 mph (240 kph) Monday, threatening a stretch of high-rise resort hotels, surfing beaches and fishing villages.

After briefly reaching Category 5 strength, the storm's maximum sustained winds weakened slightly to Category 4 by the evening. But it remained "extremely dangerous" and was expected to bring "life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall" to parts of west-central and southwestern Mexico ahead of an expected Tuesday landfall, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hotel workers started taping up windows, and officials began evacuating thousands of people and shuttered schools in a low-lying landscape where towns sit amid farmland tucked between the sea and lagoons. A decree of "extraordinary emergency" was issued for 19 municipalities in Nayarit and Sinaloa states, the federal Interior Department announced.

The hurricane was expected to pass over or near the Islas Marias — a set of islands about 60 miles (96 kilometers) offshore that include a nature preserve and a federal prison — early Tuesday.

Forecasters said Willa would then blow ashore in the afternoon or evening somewhere along a 140-mile (220-kilometer) stretch extending from the resort town of Mazatlan to San Blas.

It was projected to weaken somewhat before hitting land but was still expected to be extremely dangerous.

Yamile Bustamante, assistant general manager at the Crown Plaza de Mazatlan, said hotel executives were not ruling out the possibility of evacuating guests but were awaiting instructions from authorities.

The governments of Sinaloa and Nayarit ordered coastal region schools to close and began preparing emergency shelters.

Enrique Moreno, mayor of Escuinapa, a municipality of about 60,000 people on Willa's track, said officials were trying to evacuate everybody in the seaside village of Teacapan. He estimated 3,000 were affected but he expected some would try to stay.

"The people don't want to evacuate, but it's for their security," he said.

About 60 miles (100 kilometers) up the coast in Mazatlan, with a metropolitan-area population of about 500,000, Mayor Jose Joel Boucieguez said officials prepared shelters and were closely monitoring low-lying areas. Mazatlan is a popular vacation spot and home to a large number of American and Canadian expatriates.

Willa was centered about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Cabo Corrientes and moving north at 8 mph (13 kph).

Hurricane-force winds extended 35 miles (55 kilometers) from the storm's center, and tropical storm-force winds were up to 125 miles (205 kilometers) out.

The U.S. hurricane center warned that Willa could bring 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain — with up to 18 inches (45 centimeters) in some places — to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas.

Farther to the south, Tropical Storm Vicente weakened and was expected to dissipate soon, but still produce heavy rainfall and flooding over parts of southern and southwestern Mexico.

Mexico City, October 22 (AP/UNB) — Hurricane Willa has grown rapidly into an "extremely dangerous" near-Category 5 storm in the eastern Pacific, on a path to smash into Mexico's western coast between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta by Wednesday.

The governments of Sinaloa and Nayarit states ordered coastal region schools to close on Monday and began preparing emergency shelters ahead of the onslaught.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Willa could "produce life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall over portions of southwestern and west-central Mexico beginning on Tuesday."  It predicted that Willa could become a Category 5 hurricane later Monday, generating life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions.

A hurricane warning was posted for Mexico's western coast between San Blas and Mazatlan, including the Islas Marias, a nature reserve and federal prison directly in the forecast track of the storm.

Tropical storm warnings ranged from Playa Perula north to San Blas and from Mazatlan north to Bahia Tempehuaya. The center said Willa is expected make landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

By early Monday, Willa had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (255 kph) — the same windspeed Hurricane Michael had at landfall in Florida — and was centered about 200 miles (325 kilometers) south-southwest of the Islas Marias and 155 miles (250 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes. It was moving north at 7 mph (11 kph).

Hurricane force winds extended 30 miles (45 kilometers) from the storm's core and tropical storm force winds were up to 90 miles (150 kilometers) out.

The hurricane center said 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain should fall and some places could see up to 18 inches (45 centimeters) — on parts of western Jalisco, western Nayarit and southern Sinaloa states. It warned of the danger of flash flooding and landslides in mountainous areas.

Farther to the south, Tropical Storm Vicente weakened but was still expected to produce heavy rainfall and flooding over parts of southern and southwestern Mexico.

By early Monday, its core was about 195 miles (310 kilometers) southeast of Acapulco with top sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). The hurricane center said it could produce 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 centimeters) of rain in parts of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco states.

Sao Paulo, Oct 21 (AP/UNB) — Thousands of people took to the streets in Brazil Saturday to protest the candidacy of presidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro, shouting "Not him!" which has become the rallying cry against the far-right former army captain.

In Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and 24 other cities, large crowds filled avenues and squares a week before the Oct. 28 second-round vote polls suggest Bolsonaro is likely to win.

Bolsonaro, who has angered many Brazilians by praising the country's 1964-1985 military dictatorship and making comments offensive to gays, women and blacks, won the first round of voting on Oct. 7, getting 46 percent against 29 for Fernando Haddad of the Workers' Party.

In front of the Sao Paulo Art Museum, people beat drums and waved gay pride flags as they denounced Bolsonaro. Many carried cardboard signs bearing Haddad's name and photo.

Tiago Silva, a 27-year-old philosophy teacher, said Bolsonaro "represents the fascism, intolerance and violence we are seeing in Europe and in the United States."

"It will be a disaster if he wins — and it looks like he will," he added.

Vinicius Bento, a 27-year-old lawyer, said voting for Haddad is "the only way to stop Bolsonaro and his racist, misogynist and fascists views from reaching the presidency."

"We have to get Haddad elected," he said, acknowledging that he didn't vote for him in the first round because he'd "lost faith" in the Workers' Party as a result of the corruption scandals it has been involved with. The left-leaning party governed Brazil between 2003 and 2016, and has been dogged by the massive "Carwash" corruption investigation.

Bolsonaro has appealed to many Brazilians weary of crime and corruption by promising a violent crackdown on drug gangs and other criminals, and by highlighting the corruption that took place under past Workers' Party administrations. He has also promised a return to "traditional Brazilian values."

Haddad, the hand-picked successor to jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has promised to bring back the boom times Brazil experienced under da Silva, fight inequality, invest more in education and improve state services.