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Associated Press

The circumstances surrounding the death of ex-One Direction singer Liam Payne were suspicious, given possible drug involvement, Argentine prosecutors said Thursday.
Payne, 31, who died on Wednesday, first shot to fame as a teenager and grappled with the pressures of global stardom.
Fans and media swarmed the Casa Sur Hotel in the chic Palermo neighbourhood of Argentina’s capital as forensic experts collected evidence a day after Payne was found dead in the hotel courtyard after plunging from his room on the third floor.
The Buenos Aires police said they found Payne’s hotel room “in complete disarray” with broken objects and furniture. They found packs of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, energy supplements and over-the-counter medications strewn about his belongings.

The Argentine public prosecutor said there also appeared to be alcohol and narcotics in the room.
Forensics teams reported that a whiskey bottle, lighter and mobile phone were retrieved from the building’s internal courtyard where Payne’s body was found.
The prosecutor said that the autopsy showed internal bleeding and 25 traumatic injuries to his skull, limbs and abdomen, consistent with a fall. It said those injuries alone were enough to cause his death.
There were no signs of a third party being involved, it said, but described Payne’s case as “suspicious”, citing the likelihood that the star had been taking alcohol and drugs. The requested toxicology tests could take weeks to complete.
The lack of defensive injuries on Payne’s hands indicated that he may have fallen into a state of unconsciousness, the public prosecutor said.
Evidence collected from the scene, the statement added, suggested Payne “was going through some kind of substance abuse episode”. It said all signs indicated that Payne was alone at the time of his death.

Medical examiners listed the cause of death as “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding”. Authorities said they took statements from three hotel employees and two women who had visited Payne in his hotel room hours earlier in an effort to reconstruct Payne’s final moments.
The two women had left the hotel by the time of the incident, the prosecution said.
Fans, foreign and local, were still filtering through the cordoned-off street outside Payne’s hotel on Thursday.
Several girls, their cheeks tear-stained, paused to sit in trancelike silence before a makeshift memorial of candles, colourful flowers and handmade One Direction signs spilling prolifically off the curb.
On Wednesday, police had said Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room”, without elaborating on how they came to that conclusion or whether the jump was intentional.
Police said they had rushed to the hotel in response to an emergency call just after 5pm local time that had warned of an intoxicated guest acting erratically.


A hotel manager can be heard on an emergency call recording saying the hotel has “a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol … He’s destroying the entire room and, well, we need you to send someone, please.”
Tributes continued pouring in on Thursday from pop industry figures and fellow musicians.
Payne was known as the tousle-headed, sensible one of the quintet that went from a television talent show to a pop phenomenon with a huge international following of swooning fans.
In recent years, he had acknowledged struggling with alcoholism, saying in a YouTube video posted in July 2023 that he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment.
“We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” his family said in a statement through Payne’s representative.
“We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, who performed with One Direction in 2014, said he was “shocked and saddened”. The Backstreet Boys said in a social media post that their hearts go out to “Directioners around the world”.
In past interviews, Payne alluded to the gruelling consequences of growing up against the surreal backdrop of the entertainment industry.
“I don’t think you can ever deal with that. It’s all a bit crazy for us to see that people get in that sort of state of mind about us and what we do,” he said in 2013, recounting an experience where a fan was in a state of shock upon meeting him.
One Direction announced an indefinite “hiatus” in 2016, and Payne – like each of his erstwhile bandmates – pursued a solo career, shifting toward EDM and hip-hop.
While former One Direction singer Harry Styles became a huge solo star, the others had more modest success. Payne’s 2017 single “Strip That Down”, featuring Quavo, reached the Billboard Top 10, and stayed on the charts for several months.
He put out an album LP1 in 2019, and his last release – a single called “Teardrops” – was released in March.
In 2020, to mark the 10th anniversary of One Direction, Payne shared a screenshot of a text message he sent to his father on the day he joined the group, which read: “I’m in a boyband.”
“What a journey … I had no idea what we were in for when I sent this text to my dad years ago at this exact time the band was formed,” he wrote.
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, you can dial 18111 for the government-run Mental Health Support Hotline. You can also call +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.


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Fame and celebrity

Liam Payne’s ‘suspicious’ death under investigation after drugs and alcohol found

British singer Liam Payne performs in Paris in September 2017. Photo: AFP

Fans light candles outside the hotel where former One Direction singer Liam Payne was found dead. Photo: AP

The poolside area of the hotel where British singer Liam Payne died. Photo: AFP

Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles of One Direction in 2014. File photo: TNS

One Direction’s Liam Payne falls to death at Argentina hotel

Liam Payne in 2019. The Former One Direction singer was found dead at 31 on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. Photo: AP

Fans light candles outside the hotel. Photo: Reuters

Forensic investigators at the hotel where Liam Payne was found dead. Photo: AP

Liam Payne’s body being taken from the hotel. Photo: AFP

One Direction members, from left, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne in 2012. File photo: AP

One Direction’s Hong Kong gig recalled as Liam Payne’s death shocks world

Liam Payne of One Direction performs in Hong Kong during One Direction’s “On The Road Again Tour” in at AsiaWorld-Expo on March 18, 2015. The boy band member’s death at age 31 has sent shockwaves across the world. Photo: Live Nation Lushington

A promotional flier for One Direction’s 2015 show in Hong Kong. Photo: Live Nation

RIP Liam Payne, you and One Direction were an inescapable part of my life

One Direction, pictured in 2011. Photo: AP 

Fans of One Direction singer Liam Payne react after his death, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

One Direction (from left): Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne perform on NBC’s Today show, in November 2012 in New York City. Photo: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Liam Payne performs during the first day of BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend at Singleton Park, in Swansea, Wales, in May 2018. Photo: AP

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The ex-One Direction singer’s hotel room, from which he fell, was ‘in complete disarray’, with broken objects and furniture


The ex-One Direction singer’s hotel room, from which he fell, was ‘in complete disarray’, with broken objects and furniture.
