The remnants left in tragic Liam Payne’s hotel room when he plunged to his death from a balcony have been revealed – including burned tin foil and white powder.
The chaotic scenes inside the former One Direction popstar’s last accommodation, in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, are laid bare in stark photos.
Payne, 31, is being mourned worldwide after he fell 45ft from his third floor suite to his death on Wednesday.
He was found in the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel, beside a lighter, a whisky bottle and a mobile phone.
The images from inside the room where he had been staying show white powder and potential drugs paraphernalia on a wooden table which has apparent scorch marks.
Photos have emerged of Liam Payne’s room at the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, after he plunged 45ft to his death there on Wednesday
White powder and a mystery pill bottle were among the items shown on a scorched table
Aluminium foil and a broken candle were also seen in the hotel room’s bathtub
Liam Payne, 31, had spoken publicly previously about his struggles with addiction
Alongside them are tin foil, a lighter, an aluminium can lid and a cardboard box with the soap brand Dove’s name on it – possibly used to shuffle the accompanying white powder.
Other pictures show a cracked TV screen elsewhere in the room, where Payne had been staying as he visited the city to attend his ex-bandmate Niall Horan’s concert.
Nearby was also a half-empty Champagne flute and a smashed-up laptop, while a photo of his bathtub shows more foil, a burnt candle and both burns and stains.
Also evident are his scattered clothes, wine glasses, broken candles and a white pill box.
Payne was found dead by police who say they found the singer’s medicines including clonazepam – a drug which is used to control epilepsy, involuntary muscle spasms and panic disorders.
In the moments before his fall, Payne – who had spoken in the past about his addiction issues – had reportedly been acting erratically.
He had to be escorted back to his hotel room before he plunged to his death, with staff making a panicked call to police.
Police in Argentina were contacted by a member of hotel staff who reported ‘an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol’.
Liam Payne looks at his laptop in the Casa Sur Hotel lobby in Buenos Aires on Wednesday at 4.26pm local time (8.26pm UK time). The alarm was raised at 5.04pm following his fall
Liam Payne in the Casa Sur Hotel lobby in Buenos Aires just minutes before his death
A young woman staying in the same hotel said she was told by the former One Direction singer: ‘I used to be in a boy band – that’s why I’m so f**ked up’.
In her compelling account, Rebecca, one of the last people to speak to the popstar at the Casa Sur Hotel, claimed that Payne:
- Showed ‘disturbing and weird behaviour’ as he smashed his laptop on the floor;
- Grabbed a young woman and pretended to choke her in the hotel lift; and
- Was accompanied by an ‘entourage’ of two women and a British man.
Rebecca, not her real name, a 28-year-old IT consultant from Washington DC, told MailOnline: ‘Everyone, especially the staff was really shocked. It’s a high-end hotel and his behaviour was so out of place – people were just chilling.
‘I went over, asked ‘are you OK?’ But he just kind of grunted. Then he said ‘I used to be in a boyband. That’s why I’m so f**ked up.’
‘I couldn’t believe he’d just come out and said something like that. There was a lot more swearing and he took the laptop over and went to get back in the lift.
‘After he’d gone, the British guy from his entourage, who I think was called Roger, came over and apologised on his behalf, saying ‘I’m sorry, he just gets so high sometimes’.
‘I did wonder what these people with him were doing to help him, but maybe they had tried and failed. The hotel staff were freaking out and watching him really nervously. I could see one of them was on the phone to what I assumed was security or the police.
Police in the hotel reception area of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires after Liam Payne fell
One Direction came to fame on TV show The X Factor in 2010 (Pictured left to right: Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, judge Simon Cowell, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan)
Fans of Liam Payne lit candles next to the hotel where he died in Buenos Aires on Wednesday
Payne plunged from a third floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires (file photo)
‘I’ve never taken cocaine, but he was behaving exactly as I’d imagine someone would on the drug – he wasn’t focusing, and his pupils were dilated, and he was behaving in aggressive way – though not to anyone in particular.’
As tributes today continued to pour in for Payne, including from his former group, it emerged:
The popstar, who rose to fame with One Direction on The X Factor, died of multiple traumas and ‘internal and external haemorrhage’, a post-mortem examination report has said.
Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident as an ‘inconclusive death’ following the report.
The country’s police are now hypothesising he has was ‘going through some type of outbreak as a result of substance abuse’ prior to his death.
In the lead up to his death, a panicked hotel worker made two calls, saying in the first: ‘We have a guest who’s off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come.’
He then phoned back after the line went dead, saying: ‘I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger. The room has a balcony and we are afraid he might do something.’
This was one of the last selfies former One Direction star Liam Payne shared online
Payne also posted this picture of him with girlfriend Kate Cassidy
Payne was said to have been ‘acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’, according to local media.
Seconds later the employee, who identified himself as Esteban, added: ‘Just send an ambulance, only an ambulance.’ Workers had heard a loud sound in the courtyard before the singer’s body was discovered just after 5pm local time (9pm UK time).
Payne previously spoke of his struggles with alcohol, drugs and ‘severe suicidal thoughts’ in an interview with Diary Of A CEO podcast host Stephen Bartlett in 2021.
He said: ‘I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it.
‘There is some stuff that I have definitely never, never spoken about… it was really, really, really severe. And it was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself after that, I was like, “Right, I need to fix myself”.’
Payne’s family have said they were ‘heartbroken’ by his death, adding: ‘Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.’
A joint statement from his One Direction bandmates said they were ‘completely devastated’ and will miss the singer ‘terribly’, adding the ‘memories we shared with him will be treasured forever’.
In a separate statement, Styles said the years he spent with Payne ‘will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life.’
Liam Payne (left) is seen with former One Direction bandmate Louis Tomlinson as they performed at Kiss FM’s Jingle Ball in Los Angeles in December 2015
One Direction members (left to right) Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan are pictured at an HMV store in Manchester in March 2011
Liam Payne opened up about his struggles with alcohol and drugs in an interview on the Diary Of A CEO podcast with host Stephen Bartlett in 2021
‘I will miss him always, my lovely friend,’ three-time Grammy winner Styles said in a statement on Instagram.
Payne’s ‘greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it’, Styles wrote.
‘Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious,’ he said. ‘He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life.’
Styles said his ‘heart breaks’ for Payne’s family and his seven-year-old son Bear, who he shared with his former partner, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.
Fellow One Direction star Louis Tomlinson vowed to be an uncle to Payne’s son in a separate Instagram statement.
‘I want you to know that if Bear ever needs me I will be the uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was,’ the 32-year-old said.
Tomlinson said Payne was ‘the most vital part of One Direction’, describing his ‘perfect pitch, his stage presence, (and) his gift for writing’.
He added: ‘I’m so grateful that we got even closer since the band, speaking on the phone for hours, reminiscing about all the thousands of amazing memories we had together is a luxury I thought I’d have with you for life.
Harry Styles (right), pictured with Liam Payne on stage in Los Angeles in December 2015, has said his ‘heart breaks’ for Payne’s family and his seven-year-old son Bear
Floral tributes and cards have been placed outside the Buenos Aires hotel where Payne died
Fans have gathered at the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital, lighting candles in his honour
‘I would have loved to share the stage with you again but it wasn’t to be.’
Tomlinson said he and Payne had planned to get ‘back in the studio together to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built up in the band’, adding that he wished he had the ‘chance to say goodbye’ to ‘one of my best friends’.
Both Tomlinson and former One Direction star Zayn Malik said they had ‘lost a brother’.
Malik, who left the band in 2015 citing the need to have ‘some private time out of the spotlight’ before embarking on a solo career, thanked Payne for ‘supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life’ in a separate post on Instagram.
‘When I was missing home as a 17 yr old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and that I was loved,’ he said.
Malik said he ‘butted heads’ with Payne at times because he was ‘headstrong’ and ‘opinionated’, but ‘always secretly respected’ him for it.
‘I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, there is no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated,’ the 31-year-old added.
One Direction fans have been mourning Payne’s death at a vigil outside the Argentine hotel where they lit candles and laid flowers.
One Direction are seen here arriving at the 42nd American Music Awards in Los Angeles in November 2014
Grieving fans have been comforting each other outside the hotel where Liam Payne died
Candles and messages of love have been placed at the scene in Buenos Aires, Argentina
The band toured across the globe and had five chart-topping albums, as well as four number one singles in the UK chart with tracks including What Makes You Beautiful and Little Things.
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton, released his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, which included the songs Polaroid and Strip That Down featuring Quavo.
One of his most famous songs, For You, was a collaboration between him and the singer Rita Ora for the film Fifty Shades Freed in 2018.
Hours after his death, Ora sang their song while an image of the pair was projected on to the screen behind her during a performance in Osaka, Japan.
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