The British singer and songwriter Liam Payne was found dead this Wednesday at the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires. He was 31 years old.
Alberto Crescenti, head of the Emergency Medical Care System, confirmed to the local channel Todo Noticias that the former member of the band One Direction "fell from a third floor to an internal courtyard" of the Casa Sur hotel in the Palermo neighborhood, in the Argentine capital.
When the doctors attended to the musician, they found "very serious injuries incompatible with life as a result of the fall," according to Crescenti.
A report from the Ministry of Security of the city of Buenos Aires indicated that in the afternoon hours, agents went to the hotel after receiving a call to 911 "reporting an aggressive man who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol."
According to the police version, the hotel manager informed the officers that he "heard a loud noise in the hotel's inner courtyard."
When they arrived at the specified location, the police confirmed "the death of a man who had jumped from the balcony of the room," the Ministry said.
Payne was identified by his passport.
The Emergency Services and the police declined to respond whether Payne's fall was the result of an accident, suicide, or another hypothesis. At the moment, a prosecutor is investigating it as a case of violent death, and the transfer of the musician's body to the morgue for an autopsy is imminent.
"If it is free fall and there is nothing to mitigate it, it is practically a deadly blow," Crescenti noted.
According to reports from the Argentine press, the artist was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of his former bandmate Niall Horan.
Who was Liam Payne?
His rise in the music industry occurred in 2010 after his participation in the talent show "The X Factor." It was there that the group One Direction emerged, comprised of Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson.
In 2011, they released their studio album Up All Night, the first to debut at number one on the UK Billboard charts.
Between 2012 and 2015, Payne released two albums with his bandmates - Take Me Home and Midnight Memories - musical creations that would further establish the group as one of the most recognized internationally.
It wasn't until 2016 that the 31-year-old guitarist also decided to pursue a solo career with Capitol Records. During that experimental stage, he produced hits such as "Strip That Down," "Get Low," and "Stack It Up," among others.
After four years as a solo artist, he launched his first world tour in 2020.