Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was found dead at 31 on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to state police.
Authorities said they’re investigating whether his death was accidental or suicide.
Alberto Crescenti, the director of Buenos Aires Emergency Medical Services (SAME), confirmed Payne’s death to Argentine news station Todo Noticias. He said Payne died after a three-story fall from a balcony at the CasaSur Hotel in the city’s Palermo neighborhood.
“At 17:04 we were alerted through 911 about a person who was in the inner courtyard of the CasaSur Hotel,” Crescenti told the outlet. “A few minutes later, a SAME emergency team arrived and confirmed the death of this man who we later found out was from a musical group.”
Crescenti said the nearly 45-foot fall left Payne with injuries he could not survive.
“According to what the team saw, he had a fractured base of the skull,” he said, but noted a cause and manner of death would not be discussed until an autopsy is complete.
Shortly before Payne’s death, police said they were called to the hotel for reports of “an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” according to a spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires.
Witnesses told TMZ that Payne had been acting “erratically” in the hotel lobby earlier in the day, though it’s unknown if any substances were in his system when he died.
Payne’s representatives in Great Britain did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The English pop star had previously been open about his struggles with alcohol and prescription drugs. In a 2021 podcast interview, he said his addiction at one point got so bad he was having “severe” suicidal thoughts.
In July of last year, Payne told fans he was nearly six months sober after spending 100 days in a Louisiana rehab facility.
Payne had reportedly been in Argentina for more than two weeks prior to his death. Earlier this month, he attended a performance in Buenos Aires by his former bandmate Niall Horan.
Sources told TMZ that Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, had joined him for a vacation in Argentina but returned to the United States on Monday.
Payne leaves behind 7-year-old son Bear Grey, whom he shared with former girlfriend, English singer and TV personality Cheryl Cole.
He’s also survived by his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth.
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