Members of the music industry are mourning the loss of Liam Payne, a former member of the boy band One Direction who reportedly died Wednesday.
Payne, 31, reportedly died after a fall from his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, local police confirmed. His former band members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik have not yet addressed Payne’s death at the time of publication.
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Payne reportedly fell from the third floor into the internal courtyard of the Casa Sur hotel, located in the trendy Palermo district of the Argentine capital. Medics arrived quickly but pronounced him dead at the scene due to severe injuries.
According to Argentine media, Payne was in Buenos Aires to attend Horan’s concert.
The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon, with authorities receiving a call at 5:04 p.m. from the hotel manager, who reported that Payne was acting aggressively and may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Responders from the 14B Police Station and the Emergency Medical Attention System (SAME) arrived to find Payne’s body in the hotel’s courtyard.
Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, a co-writer on Payne’s 2017 song “Bedroom Floor”, posted a captionless photo of the duo on his Instagram feed. He also shared pictures and videos with Payne on his Instagram Story.
“I am in shock right now. Liam was always so kind to me. He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I can not believe he is gone…,” Puth wrote.
“I am so upset right now, may he rest in peace.”
DJ and producer Zedd, who collaborated with Panye on the 2017 song “Get Low”tweeted, “RIP Liam… I can’t believe this is real…absolutely heartbreaking …”
While not mentioning Payne by name, singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes tweeted shortly after the news of Payne’s death, “We take care of each other 🫂♥️.”
SAME paramedics confirmed Payne’s death shortly after their arrival at 5:11 p.m. The head of SAME, Alberto Crescenti, later provided details in a television interview, revealing that Payne had fallen from a height of approximately 13 or 14 meters (around 43 to 46 feet).
“We were alerted via 911 about a person in the internal courtyard of the Casa Sur hotel,” Crescenti explained. “By the time our team arrived, the man had already passed. Unfortunately, his injuries were fatal, and there was no possibility of resuscitation.”
A prosecutor and local authorities are investigating the cause of the singer’s death with assistance from the city police.
Pablo Policicchio, a spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, told The Associated Press in a statement that Payne “had thrown himself from the balcony of his room.”
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