Police raid Buenos Aires hotel where One Direction star Liam Payne fell to his death from third-floor balcony
24 October 2024, 20:32 | Updated: 24 October 2024, 20:38
Argentina's police have raided the Buenos Aires hotel where former One Direction singer Liam Payne died after falling from a third-floor balcony.
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A police special investigations unit went to the Casa Sur hotel on Wednesday night on orders from the public prosecutors' office.
Officers seized items including computer hard drives and footage from hotel cameras, a government official told The Associated Press.
The singer died on October 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony in the upmarket Palermo district.
According to the post-mortem examination, Payne died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. His body was found in the hotel's internal courtyard.
Initial investigations suggest that the musician was alone and experiencing a "breakdown" due to consumption of substances that have not yet been determined.
Following Payne's death, police found substances in his hotel room, as well as destroyed objects and furniture, according to the public prosecutors' office.
Read more: Liam Payne's death treated as 'inconclusive' as investigators await test results
The boyband star had cocaine in his system, according to a preliminary toxicology report published by local press on Monday. Definitive results are not expected to be made public for several weeks. The Casa Sur hotel has become a place for Payne's fans to pay their respects. They have left flowers, candles and photos of the singer in a makeshift shrine around a tree at the hotel's entrance.
The singer's father, Geoff Payne, is in Buenos Aires arranging the repatriation of his son's body, which is expected to be released around October 28.
Payne's family - which includes his mother Karen Payne and his two sisters Ruth and Nicola - have expressed their devastation over the loss, as have his former bandmates. Artists and celebrities from various countries continue to share their grief.
One Direction was among the most successful boy bands of recent times. It announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and Payne - like his former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson - pursued a solo career.
The singer had posted on his Snapchat account that he travelled to Argentina to attend Horan's concert in Buenos Aires on October 2.
He shared videos of himself dancing with his girlfriend, American influencer Kate Cassidy, and singing along in the stands. Cassidy had left Argentina after the show but Payne stayed behind.
