What we know so far about his death

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 surrounding the British singer's death are still unclear, but information from emergency services and other authorities has begun to build a picture of events.

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

His bandmates have published a number of warm statementsThey said they were “completely devastated” by his death.

Payne was staying in 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 was in the country visiting his former bandmate Niall Horan.

Horan was on tour in Argentina and the pair had been friendly since One Direction's split in 2016.

Payne posted on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan for a chat, 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, but we need to talk.”

Payne attended the show and re-posted social media videos of himself and his girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing at the concert.

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

She said: “He was fine. Later people said he was either drunk or on drugs. But that wasn't true at all. He talked to us, hugged us and even joked.”

When Veron saw him at Niall's show, she said he was “dancing, waving and cheering” and “seemed to be enjoying himself.”

We also know that the pop star had visited a friend's house in Argentina in the days before his death, again with Cassidy.

But by the time Payne fell to his death on Wednesday, Cassidy had already left the country.

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

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

We understand that hotel staff made an emergency call around 5:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. CET) on Wednesday asking them to help a hotel guest “overwhelmed 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're a little worried that he might do something life-threatening,” the hotel's front desk manager said in a second call.

Payne's room was on the third floor and had a balcony about 14 m (45 feet) above a courtyard.

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

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

He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and rescue workers said there was “no possibility of resuscitation.”

Payne's body was removed from the hotel at around 8:30 p.m. local time and an autopsy was performed that evening.

It found that he had suffered “multiple traumas” and “internal and external bleeding,” according to the prosecutor’s office.

A preliminary report said he had 25 injuries “attributable to a fall from a height.”

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

It remains to be determined whether there was alcohol or drugs in Payne's system at the time of death.

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

The investigators also want to determine “possible involvement of third parties in the events before the victim’s death.”

Hotel staff emphasized in the 911 call that Payne “destroyed his room,” and police said they found the room in “complete disarray.”

A bottle of whiskey, a lighter, a passport and a cell phone were found.

There were said to be “various broken items” in the room and medications were found, including the anxiety medication clonazepam and other over-the-counter medications.

Evidence and fingerprints were also collected and analyzed in a laboratory.

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

According to the public prosecutor's office, substances that appeared to be “narcotics and alcoholic beverages” were found in the room, and furniture and other objects were broken.

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 was in contact with.

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

It may take several days for this to occur again.

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 close relatives would have to travel to Argentina to identify his body before it was released.

Full coverage of Liam Payne's death: