Topics: Celebrity, Liam Payne
Police in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said they found alcohol and medicines while searching Liam Payne's hotel room.
Payne died after falling from a balcony at the hotel CasaSur in Palermo, with police saying last night they received an emergency call informing them of ‘an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol'.
Officers have now described the 'total disorder' in the room, saying there had been 'various items broken', and that medications had been found scattered around - including clonazepam, a benzodiazepine used to control epilepsy, involuntary muscle spasms or panic disorders, as well as energy supplements and other over-the-counter drugs.
Whiskey, a lighter and a mobile phone had been retrieved from the inner courtyard where Payne's body was found.
Advert
Police also said they had taken fingerprints and other evidence from the room to be analysed.
The preliminary autopsy results into Payne's death show he died from multiple injuries sustained in his fall.
These led to 'internal and external haemorrhaging', it has been confirmed.
Forensic pathologists Santiago Maffia Bizzozero and Victor Roberto Cohen reached the initial conclusions after carrying out a post mortem today at a city morgue in the Argentinian capital, with further tests also being carried out.
Alberto Crescenti, the head of the state emergency medical system, said on Argentina's Todo Noticias TV channel last night that the singer had fallen from his hotel room into a courtyard.
Crescenti said in a statement: "At 17.04 through the 911 integrated public safety system, we were alerted of a person who was in an internal courtyard of the management of a south house hotel.
"At 17.11 a SAME team arrived and verified the death of this man and later we found out that he was a singer in a musical group.
"Unfortunately, he had injuries that were incompatible with life, as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death, there was no possibility of resuscitation."
Payne's family have since issued a statement about his death, saying they are 'heartbroken'.
"Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul," it said.
They added: "We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time."
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton, rose to fame alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles, forming One Direction together on The X Factor in 2010.
After becoming one of the biggest pop groups in the world with five albums and four world tours, the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2016.
A year later, Payne and ex-girlfriend Cheryl Tweedy (formerly Cole) welcomed a son named Bear, before their relationship ended in 2018.
