Why Liam Payne was in Argentina as One Direction star confirmed dead at 31 after hotel fall

Liam Payne has died in Buenos Aires at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony - the former One Direction star had explained to fans several days earlier why he was in Argentina

Former One Direction star Liam Payne has died at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina - and devastated fans have been wondering why he was there.

He had been staying at the plush Hotel Casa Sur in Buenos Aires when he fell around 40 metres to the ground from the third floor and suffered "severe injuries which were incompatible with life", according to a local ambulance spokesperson. A manager is said to have found his body after hearing a loud noise in an internal patio.

Liam had been on holiday in Buenos Aires with his girlfriend, actress Kate Cassidy, and had told fans he was attending former bandmate Niall Horan's concert in Argentina.

Liam had said on social media: "We're going to Argentina. One, because we have to, and two, because we want to, and three, because Niall Horan's playing down there and I think we might just go and say 'Hello'. It's been a while since me and Niall have spoken. We've got a lot to talk about and I would like to square up a couple things with the boy. No bad vibes or nothing like that, but just, we need to talk."

Kate left Argentina to return to the US earlier this week, and one of her TikTok posts from Monday showed her flying back to Florida. She wrote: “soooo happpiii to b back in sunshine state”.

Police are said to have been called to the hotel on Wednesday to reports of a man acting aggressively at the hotel who could be under the effect of drink or drugs. The alarm was raised at 5.04pm local time (9.11pm UK time) after a man was reported on the patio floor, and Liam was pronounced dead shortly after an ambulance arrived at 5.11pm. The ambulance spokesperson said there "was no possibility of resuscitating him.”

In a statement, the local ambulance manager told TN: "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."