Medical officials have revealed Liam Payne‘s cause of death after he fell from a hotel balcony on Wednesday, October 16.
According to Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti, Payne suffered “serious injuries” that were untreatable by the time first responders arrived at the scene.
“Our role was to head there quickly, give medical attention, and try to resuscitate him, but his injuries were incompatible with life,” he said, per La Nacion. “Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death.”
Results from a complete autopsy have yet to be released, but Crescenti continued, “The team could do absolutely nothing. There was no resuscitation because it was confirmed that he had died. The whole body had very serious injuries.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday evening that Buenos Aires City Police officers were dispatched to the CasaSur Palermo Hotel following a 911 call at 5:04 p.m. local time reporting an aggressive man who may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The case is being investigated by the local law enforcement.
Payne rose to fame on the U.K. edition of X Factor. Although he was eliminated when he first competed in 2008, he made it through when he auditioned again in 2010 and was recruited to join a new boy band alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.
One Direction released five studio albums from 2011 to 2015, the fifth of which did not feature Malik, who was the first to leave the band. They burst onto the scene with the hit “What Makes You Beautiful” and went on to release platinum singles such as “Live While We’re Young,” “Story of My Life” and “Night Changes.”
The band went on hiatus in 2016, and all members later launched solo careers. Payne dropped his first full-length solo album, titled LP1, in 2019 and released two EPs. He released his first single in three years, “Teardrops,” in March.
Payne welcomed his only son, Bear, with Cheryl Cole in March 2017. The couple called it quits in July 2018 after two years of dating.
He moved on with Aliana Mawla, but their romance was short-lived. Payne began dating Kate Cassidy in 2022. Though Us confirmed in May 2023 that Payne and Cassidy split, they later rekindled their romance the following February.
Following his death, many fellow musicians publicly mourned Payne. “I am in shock right now,” Charlie Puth wrote via Instagram Story the night of Payne’s passing. “Liam was always so kind to me. He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I can not believe he is gone … I am so upset right now. May he rest in peace.”