Liam Payne, a former member of the hit band, One Direction, has died at the age 31 in an incident in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Payne is understood to have fallen from his third-storey balcony of CasaSur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of the city.
Payne, 31, was posting on social media only hours before his death. Alcohol and medicines such as clonazepam were found in his room. The ambulance said they arrived within six minutes of receiving a call and found Payne lying on the hotel’s internal patio
They said there was no possibility of resuscitating him as his injuries were so severe .
A recording of a 911 call has been released, where the hotel desk manager said a guest under the influence of drugs and alcohol was “breaking everything” in their room. The employee called for medical assistance “with urgency” and said they were concerned the guest’s life was in danger .
Liam pictured with new girl friend Maya Henry before his death
The singer was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of former bandmate Niall Horan, whose concert he was seen dancing at two weeks ago.
Police have said they found alcohol and medicines like clonazepam in his room. His family released their first statement since his death, saying they were “heartbroken” and that he would “forever live in our hearts.”
In his final social media posts before his death, Payne spoke to followers about his plans for the day ahead in Argentina and said it was a “lovely day”. However, the videos appear to have been posted days after they were taken .
Britain’s Got Talent has postponed auditions in Blackpool today . Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has offered his “sincere condolences.”
Harry Styles’s mum posted a short message on Instagram reading: “Just a boy.”A host of stars have paid tribute, with friend Charlie Puth saying he is “so upset” and that Payne was “always so kind”.
Initially rejected from the X Factor at the age of 14, when Liam Payne returned to audition again two years later Simon Cowell felt the teenager from Wolverhampton was ready.
But if anyone can truly be ready for the level of fame that ultimately followed, it is hard to know.
It was never in doubt that Liam had the talent – he nailed his audition and while One Direction didn’t come first in 2010’s X Factor, they amassed fans and were signed by Cowell’s record label.
From there, the group snowballed into one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, performing to hysterical fans around the world.
But this was all happening in the 2010s, when the duty of care standards were nowhere near what they are now.
Buenos Aires police have said they have searched Liam Payne’s hotel room and found alcohol as well as medicines like clonazepam.
Clonazepam is a benzodiazepine used to control epilepsy, involuntary muscle spasms or panic disorders. They described “total disorder” in the room with various things broken and medications scattered around.
Police also said they took fingerprints and other evidence from Payne’s room to be analysed.
Whiskey, a lighter and a mobile phone were found in the same place as Payne’s body.
They earlier said they had been called to reports of an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.
