Liam Payne was acting erratically and had to be escorted back to his hotel room before plunging to his death – with staff making a panicked call to police.
The former One Direction star fell from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires yesterday before medics confirmed his death. He was 31.
Police in Argentina were contacted by a member of hotel staff who reported ‘an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol ‘.
Shortly afterwards, workers heard a loud sound in the hotel’s courtyard before the Wolverhampton-born singer’s body was discovered just after 5pm local time.
The star was said to have been ‘acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’, according to local media.
Payne rose to stardom aged 16 after forming boy band One Direction on The X Factor in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.
Shocked fans gathered outside after police cordoned off the area with forensic investigators seen entering and exiting in white protective suits and blue gloves.
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One of Liam Payne’s final selfies in Buenos Aires was captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina’
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Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy posted a picture of the pair on her Instagram from last August
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Fans of One Direction and Liam Payne gather outside the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires
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Fans of One Direction and Liam Payne gather outside the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires
