One Direction’s Liam Payne falls to death at Argentina hotel

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP)— British singer Liam Payne, a former member of the best-selling pop group One Direction, died Wednesday aged 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentine police said.

“Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Palermo,” a police statement said.

The singer had suffered “very serious injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall,” the head of the city’s SAME emergency medical service, Alberto Crescenti, told local television, adding “there was no possibility of resuscitation.”

Crescenti said emergency personnel rushed to the Casa Sur hotel in the capital’s Palermo neighbourhood after a 911 call was made at 17.04 pm local time (2004 GMT).

They arrived seven minutes later and “verified the death of this man, who we later learnt was a singer.”

Boy band sensation One Direction emerged in 2010 when then-teenagers Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik appeared on British television contest “The X Factor.”

In 2016, the group announced it was going on an indefinite hiatus, but not splitting up.

Payne announced he was working on a solo album that same year, following in the footsteps of other band members.

He had attended a concert by former band mate Horan in Buenos Aires on October 2, according to Billboard magazine.