Images that have circulated, allegedly taken from inside the hotel room where Liam Payne was staying in Buenos Aires, show white powder and a smashed TV.
Payne was pronounced dead at the scene in the courtyard of his hotel in the Palermo region of the Argentinian capital after falling from a third-floor room.
Police arrived at the hotel after being alerted by hotel staff that there was an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol” at the location.
Officers were unable to resuscitate Payne following the fall with Alberto Crescenti, head of the Buenos Aires emergency services, citing a cause of death as “cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death”.
Payne was in Argentina after attending a gig of former bandmate Niall Horan alongside his girlfriend Kate Cassidy. She’d left Argentina a few days earlier.
In pictures published by the New York Post, via La Nacion, the scene of Payne’s hotel room before his death allegedly shows white powder strewn across a desk in the suite.
The CasaSur hotel in Palermo, Buenos Aires, was where Liam Payne was staying
GETTY
Elsewhere on the tabletop are several crumpled pieces of tin foil as well as scorch marks in the wood.
A lighter, the top of a drink’s can, a burnt-out candle, a bottle top, and the base of a lamp can also be seen in the picture.
Other photos reportedly from the room show the inside of the bathtub allegedly in the suite.
Wax and burnt tin foil are shown near the plug hole of the tub in the pictures.
LISTEN HERE: Translated transcript of hotel receptionist’s 911 call before Liam Payne’s death
A final image of a TV, again reportedly taken from the suite, shows damage to the monitor’s screen.
A half-full glass of champagne is on the unit nearby while the backlight of the screen illuminates the the cracks in the TV.
Argentinian publication La Nacion has claimed that the images were verified by official sources involved in the death investigation.
Following the singer’s death, the emergency call lodged by hotel staff was released that details how employees urged authorities to tend to the scene.
In the transcript of the call, a hotel employee tells police: “Well, we have a guest who is off his head on drugs and alcohol, and well, when he’s conscious, he’s destroying everything in the room. And well, we need you to send someone, please.”
Later, the staff member pleaded with police again: “And we need you to send someone urgently, because well, I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger.
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Liam Payne died after falling from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, ArgentinaGetty
“They must be in a room that has a balcony, and well, we’re a little bit worried he’ll do something that will put his life at risk.”
Payne is survived by his son Bear, seven, who he shared with former X Factor judge Cheryl Tweedy. His parents reportedly left their family home late on Wednesday evening while his sisters remain in his home town of Wolverhampton.
Tributes from across the globe have flooded in for the singer, including former X Factor stars and several famous faces from the world of showbiz.
His One Direction bandmates have remained silent at the time of writing, although Harry Styles’ mum did issue a tribute on social media shortly after Payne’s death was announced.