BEUNOS AIRES, Oct 18 — Liam Payne, a British singer and former member of boy band One Direction, died after falling from a third-floor balcony at a Buenos Aires hotel.
The circumstances of the pop star's death, however, remain unclear.
Here is what we know so far:
Multiple trauma, hemorrhaging
Almost three hours after his death on Wednesday, Payne's body was removed from the hotel at around 8:30pm (23:30 GMT) and autopsied.
The autopsy established that Payne suffered “multiple traumas” and “internal and external hemorrhaging,” the public prosecutor's office said in a statement.
A preliminary report noted “25 injuries consistent with a fall from a great height.”
First responders said there was “no possibility of resuscitation" at the scene, according to the head of emergency services in Buenos Aires.
Drugs, alcohol
Hotel staff had called emergency services to respond to a hotel guest shortly after 5:00 pm, according to leaked audio of the call run by several media outlets.
“We have a guest who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol, and destroying his room, we need you to send someone!” a voice identified as a hotel employee said on the call.
“I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. But he has a room with a balcony and we're a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” said an employee who identified himself as the hotel's front desk manager in a second call.
Payne was in a room on the third floor, with a balcony overlooking a rear patio that was about 14 meters high.
He had been in Argentina for several days, after attending a concert by former bandmate Niall Horan in Buenos Aires in early October.
Wrecked room
Local media published photographs purportedly of Payne's room, showing a chaotic scene.
A TV with a broken screen, multiple bottles, cans with burn marks, candles and traces of white powder on a table are visible. There was also a half-full glass of champagne.
The public prosecutor's office corroborated the depiction of drugs and alcohol, saying “substances were seized in the musician's room which would accredit a previous situation of alcohol and drug consumption.”
A telephone, a computer and the musician's papers were seized, as well as, according to local media, drugs such as the anti-anxiety medication Clonazepam.
The results of medical and toxicological tests on Payne's body were not immediately available.
Payne had in the past spoken of his difficult relationship with fame and his problems with alcoholism.
Was it an accident?
The courts said they were officially investigating the death but did not suggest foul play was suspected.
“Everything seems to indicate that the musician was alone at the time of the fall and that he was going through an episode of substance abuse,” authorities said.
The prosecutor's office has taken statements from at least five witnesses, including three hotel employees and two women who had earlier been in Payne's room. — AFP
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