The family of Liam Payne have been left “utterly devastated” after the One Direction star’s sudden death at a hotel in Buenos Aires.
The 31-year-old died instantly from a fractured skull after falling from a third floor balcony at the Casa Sur hotel in Argentina’s capital, according to reports.
The singer’s family released a statement on Thursday saying they are “heartbroken” at his death.
According to local media, Payne “had been acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop” before he “had to be carried back to his room”.
The hotel manager can be heard on a 911 call claiming 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 Argentine public prosecutor's office on Thursday said: "Everything indicates that the musician was alone when the fall occurred, and was going through some kind of episode due to substance abuse”.
"City police who surveyed the scene found substances inside the room that at first glance - and pending confirmation from the experts - would be narcotics and alcoholic beverages, as well as several destroyed objects and furniture," it added.
The lack of defensive injuries on Payne's hands indicated that "he did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen into a state of semi- or total unconsciousness," the public prosecutor said.
Police earlier said in a statement they had found the room in "total disorder" in a search after his death.
It added that there were no signs of a third party being involved, though the incident was being investigated as a "suspicious death" out of protocol.
Payne rose to stardom aged 16 after forming boy band One Direction on The X Factor in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles, having returned to the ITV show two years after his first audition.
Payne and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl share a son Bear, born in 2017, having been in a high-profile relationship between 2016 and 2018.
Tributes have poured in for the singer, including from Rita Ora who broke down on stage while performing a track she collaborated on with Payne.
