One Direction member Liam Payne’s death has shocked the world, and we now have new details on the tragedy. According to officials who investigated, Payne “jumped from the balcony of his room,” on the third floor of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Buenos Aires Security Ministry communications director Pablo Policicchio said that police received emergency calls after Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room.” First responders rushed to the hotel around 5 p.m. local time after also being advised of an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
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Previously, TMZ reported that Payne’s body was identified by visible tattoos that matched the ones he was known to have. The outlet also reported that eyewitnesses alleged Payne had been behaving erratically in the hotel lobby earlier in the day. They claim he smashed his laptop and had to be physically taken back to his room.
Payne joined One Direction when he was only 16 years old — along with Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik — and is considered to have been one of the main songwriters in the band. The group launched on The X Factor in 2010 and soon became the biggest boy band in the world. Ultimately, One Direction broke up in 2015 after five studio albums, and the members went their separate ways.
Payne leaves behind one child, a son named Bear, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Tweedy.
