Liam Payne at the world premiere of I Am Bolt on November 28, 2016 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images
Liam Payne at the world premiere of I Am Bolt on November 28, 2016 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images
Former One Direction singer Liam Payne’s fatal fall from a balcony in Buenos Aires was captured on CCTV, according to Argentinian media.
The footage, which has not been released to the public, reportedly shows the singer falling after he “fainted” on the third-floor balcony.
Paula Varela, an Argentinian broadcast journalist, revealed on Socios del Espectaculo, a show broadcast on Buenos Aires-based TV station Canal 13, the footage shows Payne losing consciousness before falling from the balcony.
“There is footage that is not being released to the media with the balcony scene where you see that Liam faints and tragically, because of where he is, falls from that balcony. If he had been beside his bed, he would have fallen on his bed,” Varela said.
“It’s not that he jumped deliberately. This footage is in the official case files.”
Varela also reported a night worker at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel who had “a good relationship” with Payne was the focus of an ongoing investigation into who supplied the singer with the drugs suspected of contributing to his death on October 16.
“There’s a lad who’s being investigated, he was working nights at the hotel. He’s 20 and had struck up an excellent relationship with Liam. He’s from Lomas de Zamora on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, but we’re not going to say his name,” Varela said.
“He disobeyed an order from the hotel management. What was the order he disobeyed? [He] was not to take anything into Liam’s room. Because of the good relationship he had with Liam, he requested a car through one of these taxi apps we all use because Liam wanted something.
“He did him that favour – a massive error because he’s being investigated, and they’re seeing what was transferred in that vehicle. It’s one of the things the investigators are looking at, at the moment, and obviously this hotel worker has been suspended. He’s a cherished member of staff, a good worker, but he disobeyed an order that could have proved fatal.”
Liam Payne had been in Argentina with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy before his death. Photo / @kateecass
Toxicology report and police findings
A toxicology report completed as part of the autopsy revealed traces of pink cocaine – a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – in Payne’s system, as well as cocaine and benzodiazepine.
Police also found an improvised aluminium pipe used to smoke crack cocaine in his suite.
Alberto Crescenti, chief of the state emergency medical system, confirmed Payne fell into an internal courtyard.
“A few minutes later, [an] emergency team arrived and confirmed the death of this man, who we later learned was from a musical group. He had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall,” he said.
