Buenos Aires, Oct 16 (EFE).- Liam Payne, a former member of the English-Irish pop boy band One Direction, died on Wednesday in Buenos Aires after falling from the third floor of a hotel, according to official sources who told EFE that the artist had «thrown himself from the balcony of his room.»
«English musician Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, and former member of the band One Direction, died on Wednesday when he fell from the third floor of a hotel in the Palermo neighborhood,» a spokesman for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry told EFE.
«In the afternoon, police from the 14B police station were dispatched to the Casa Sur Hotel following a 911 call reporting an aggressive man who may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol,» the spokesman added, although he did not confirm that the man referred to was Payne.
When police arrived at the hotel, the hotel manager stated that he «heard a loud noise in the hotel’s back inner courtyard, and when the officers arrived, they found a man who had jumped off the balcony of his room and was dead,» the ministry said in a statement.
It also detailed that Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor No. 16 was assigned to the case and that the presence of the Criminalistics Unit and the transfer of the body to the morgue were ordered.
The death of the 31-year-old artist was also confirmed by the director of the medical emergency services of the city of Buenos Aires, Alberto Crescenti, who told local media that the fall caused «very serious injuries that immediately resulted in his death.»
When the emergency services arrived «there was no possibility of resuscitation,» Crescenti explained in an interview with the Argentine television channel Todo Noticias.
«We have to wait for the autopsy, but according to what the team observed, he had a fractured skull base,» he added.
According to local press reports, Payne fell in the courtyard of the hotel, where there is a cafeteria. It was empty at the time, so no one else was injured.
The singer had recently uploaded videos of himself during a concert in Buenos Aires on Oct. 2 with his friend and former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan on his Snapchat profile.
The late artist was also shown dancing with his girlfriend and rehearsing the choreography to the song «La Macarena» alongside a group of fans. EFE
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