17 October,2024 09:19 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Liam Payne (Pic/AFP)
Fans were shocked when One Direction member Liam Payne was found dead in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. According to local police, the 31-year-old fell from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room. As fans expressed their grief online, many shared screenshots from his last social media post, a selfie video on Snapchat posted just hours before the tragic incident.
A selfie video shared on Liam Payne's verified Snapchat account shows the former One Direction singer speaking from Sarmiento in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This video is believed to be the last footage of him alive. In the clip, Liam is sitting at a dining table, talking about how he and his friends had slept in. "It's such a lovely day here in Argentina. This is the breakfast table, just enjoying coffee and breakfast even though it's 1 pm," he says, while someone off-camera jokes that they sleep in until noon every day. Liam smiles and shakes his head in response before the video ends.
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Former One Direction singer Liam Payne, 31, was found dead on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, according to local officials. Police in Buenos Aires reported that Payne fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood, a popular area in Argentina's capital. The fall caused severe injuries, and medics confirmed his death at the scene.
Pablo Policicchio, the communications director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry, told The Associated Press that Payne "jumped from his room's balcony." Police responded to an emergency call around 5 p.m. local time about an "aggressive man possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol," he said.
In a 911 call obtained by the AP, the hotel manager can be heard saying they had "a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol ... He's destroying the entire room and, well, we need you to send someone, please." The manager's tone became more frantic, mentioning that the room had a balcony. Alberto Crescenti, the head of the state emergency medical service, told Argentina's Todo Noticias TV that authorities were looking into the details of Payne's death and performing an autopsy.
After the news spread, dozens of One Direction fans from around Buenos Aires gathered at the Casa Sur Hotel, forming lines that extended into the blocked-off street where police were stationed. Forensic investigators were seen leaving the hotel, and Payne's body was taken away about three hours after the fall. Heartbroken fans, mostly young women recording on their phones, were in shock as a memorial with candles and flowers quickly formed outside the hotel.