Police are reportedly on the hunt for the dealer who may have given Liam Payne drugs after Argentinian media published photos of drug paraphernalia strewn across the singer’s hotel room.
The former One Direction star, 31, plunged 40ft from the third floor of his hotel room into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina on Wednesday afternoon.
Following the tragic news of his death, Argentinian media published photos purporting to show the inside of the destroyed deluxe suite the singer had checked into earlier this week, where drug equipment was found.
Heavyweight respected news outlets including La Nacion and Clarin ran the photos, showing traces of a white powder and burnt aluminium foil as well as a smashed TV. The authenticity of the images has not yet been verified.
After the images were shared, La Nacion reported police would be investigating who supplied Liam with any banned substances if they are proven to have been in his room.
Early this morning, authorities confirmed two 911 calls were made from the Buenos Aires hotel with officers informed of ‘a guest who is off his head on drugs and alcohol‘.
It comes as:
Wolverhampton-born Payne had allegedly been acting erratically and had to be escorted back to his hotel room before the horrific incident occurred.
One of Liam Payne’s final selfies in Buenos Aires was captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina’
(From left) Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne in 2010
The hotel reception worker stated in the first call: ‘We have a guest who’s off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come.’
He then phoned back after the line went dead, saying: ‘I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger. The room has a balcony and we are afraid he might do something.’
The Familiar singer 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’.
Seconds later the employee, who identified himself as Esteban, added: ‘Just send an ambulance, only an ambulance.’
Workers had heard a loud sound in the hotel’s courtyard before the singer’s body was discovered just after 5pm local time.
Paramedics dashed to the scene where Payne was discovered with ‘very serious injuries’ that left ‘no possibility of resuscitation’.
Police confirmed his death with officers reporting: ‘Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Palermo’.
It is believed the singer’s body was taken to a local morgue. The Foreign Office has also acknowledged that it is liasing with Argentinian officials ‘regarding reports of the death of a British man’ but declined to comment on his identity.
Shocked fans gathered outside the hotel after police cordoned it off with forensic investigators seen entering and exiting in white protective suits and blue gloves.
They were seen lighting candles and adorning the side of the road with flowers in an impromptu vigil as they paid tribute to the beloved music star.
A firefighter ambulance departs the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires with Payne’s body
Fans of One Direction and Liam Payne gather outside the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires
Fans of One Direction and Liam Payne gather outside the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires
Police in Argentina had received a call from a worker at the hotel urgently requesting help with an intoxicated guest, according to audio related to the case obtained from the Buenos Aires security ministry.
The worker said: ‘When he is conscious he is destroying the entire room and we need you to send someone.’
Emergency medical services director Alberto Crescenti said Payne had suffered ‘very serious injuries after falling from a third floor into an internal courtyard’.
‘We verified his identity using the passport he had,’ he added.
Mr Crescenti told Argentine newspaper Clarin that ‘the team saw that he apparently had a fracture at the base of the skull’.
He said Payne had fallen around 45ft (14 metres) and suffered ‘severe injuries which were incompatible with life’.
He said: ‘The alarm was raised at 5.04pm local time saying a person was lying in an internal patio at Casa Sur. At 5.11pm an ambulance arrived and the man was certified dead.
‘Afterwards we found out he had been a famous singer. Unfortunately the injuries he had suffered as a result of the fall proved to be fatal. There was no possibility of resuscitating him.’
Liam Payne arrives for a film premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in November 2010
Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy posted a picture of the pair on her Instagram from last August
Former One Direction member Liam Payne is pictured in Paris in March this year
Payne had arrived in Argentina earlier this month to attend his ex-bandmate Niall Horan’s concert.
The star’s final Snapchat post showed him happily posing with his partner Kate Cassidy as they looked into a mirror – a picture which was originally taken last August.
Payne had previously opened about his alcohol abuse – in July 2023, he revealed that he was six months sober after spending about 100 days in rehab.
‘I was in bad shape up until that point,’ he said in a YouTube video.
‘I watching this beautiful symphony, I was having a drink, and I thought, “You know what, this isn’t really serving me at all, I don’t really need this right now.” It’s the first time I’ve ever put a drink down and gone to someone else, “You finish this, I don’t need this right now.” And I haven’t picked one up since, which has almost been six months, which I’m excited about,’ he added.
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.
