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What we know so far about his death
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What we know so far about his death

Getty Images Liam Payne photographed in Paris earlier this year.Getty Images

Liam Payne died on Wednesday in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires

Former One Direction star Liam Payne died on Wednesday at the age of 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after falling from a balcony.

Many details about the British singer’s death still remain unclear, but information from emergency services and other authorities is beginning to piece together a picture of events.

Payne was a global star and part of the beloved boy band, which was formed in 2010 on the TV show The X Factor.

His bandmates have released a series of heartfelt statementssaying they are “completely devastated” by his death.

Why was Liam in Argentina?

Payne stayed at a hotel in the posh Palermo district of the Argentine capital.

According to staff, he had been at the hotel for two or three days and had been in the country to visit his former bandmate Niall Horan.

Horan was in Argentina on tour and the pair had remained friends since One Direction split in 2016.

Payne posted on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan to catch up, saying: “It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we have a lot to talk about.”

He added: “No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk.”

Payne attended the show and reposted videos to social media of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing during the concert.

The BBC also spoke to fan Noelia Verón – who saw him on September 30 and then again at the concert on October 2.

She said: “He’s doing well. Later people said he was drunk or on drugs. But that wasn’t the case at all. He was talking to us, hugging us and even joking.”

When Veron saw him at Niall’s show, she said he was “dancing, waving and cheering” and “looked like he was having a good time.”

We also know that the pop star had visited a friend’s house in Argentina in the days before he died, again with Cassidy.

But when Payne died on Wednesday, Cassidy had already left the country.

What happened on Wednesday?

Payne had documented much of his journey on Snapchat, including photos of food, plans to play polo and jokes about his hair.

But none of his messages mentioned the CasaSur hotel, where he had stayed shortly before his death.

Map showing the location of the hotel

We understand that a call was made to emergency services at around 5pm local time (9pm BST) on Wednesday, asking them to respond to a hotel guest “overpowered by drugs and alcohol” and “destroying his room”. .

“I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger. But he has a room with a balcony and we are a little afraid that he will do something life-threatening,” the hotel’s front desk manager said on a second call.

‘His life may be in danger’ – listen to 911 call from hotel

Payne’s room was on the third floor and had a balcony about 45 feet above a courtyard.

It is believed he fell from the balcony at around 5:07 PM local time.

The police arrived minutes later. Hotel staff told them that a loud noise was heard in the courtyard, where Payne’s body was discovered.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, with emergency services saying there was “no possibility of resuscitation”.

Has an autopsy taken place?

Payne’s body was removed from the hotel at around 8:30 pm local time and an autopsy was carried out that evening.

It found that he had suffered ‘multiple traumas’ and ‘internal and external bleeding’, according to the Public Prosecution Service.

A preliminary report said he had 25 injuries that were “consistent with a fall from a height.”

It was also added that he may have been partially or completely unconscious when he fell.

It has yet to be determined whether alcohol or drugs were in Payne’s system at the time of death.

Authorities also interviewed five witnesses to piece together Payne’s final hours, including three hotel employees and two women who had been with the singer but left the hotel before his death.

Investigators also want to determine the “possible involvement of third parties in the events leading up to the victim’s death.”

What did his hotel room look like?

Hotel staff emphasized during the 911 call that Payne was “destroying his room,” and police say they found the room in “total disarray.”

A bottle of whisky, a lighter, a passport and a mobile phone were found.

There were said to be “several broken items” in the room and medications were found, including the anxiety drug Clonazepam and other over-the-counter medications.

Evidence and fingerprints were also collected for analysis in a laboratory.

Local media also published photos purportedly from his room, showing a TV with a broken screen, several bottles, cans, candles, aluminum foil and a half-full glass of champagne.

The prosecutor’s office said substances resembling “narcotics and alcoholic beverages” were found in the room, where pieces of furniture and other objects were broken.

A television set with a broken screen, on a table with a glass of champagne and other items on it

Photos showed an apparently destroyed TV set

What happens next?

Payne’s death is being treated as suspicious by prosecutors, meaning more needs to be determined about what happened before his death and who he had contact with.

A toxicology report has also yet to be published which will reveal whether he drank alcohol and used drugs before his death.

It may take several days for this to return.

Police have also seized the star’s laptop and phone, which could provide evidence and eyewitness accounts could help determine what led to his death.

Police said Friday that Payne’s immediate family would have to travel to Argentina to identify his body before it is released.

Watch now on iPlayer (UK only)

Full coverage of Liam Payne’s death: