Liam Payne May Have Suffered Cranial Fracture in Balcony Fall, Argentine Official Says

Mar. 15, 2025

Liam Payne in London in January 2018.Photo:Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty

Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty

Liam Payne’s cause of death may have been due to a fractured skull he sustained afterfalling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.

In a statement translated from Spanish, Alberto Crescenti (the head of SAME, Buenos Aires' public emergency medical services system) told Argentine news channelTNthat Payne fell into the hotel’s internal courtyard and had sustained “very serious injuries” during the fall.

“According to what the team saw, he had fractured the base of his skull,” Crescenti told the outlet.

He told the outlet that SAME had been alerted to an incident at around 5 p.m. of a “person who was in the internal patio of the CasaSur hotel.” He said when they arrived, they found the man — later identified to be theOne Directionsinger — dead. “He had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall,” Crescenti continued to TN, adding, “There was no way to do anything.”

Liam Payne in 2017.Jacopo Raule/Getty

Jacopo Raule/Getty

He said that Payne, who was 31, fell from the third floor to the internal patio of the hotel where he was staying, and noted that the distance of the fall could have been between 13-14 meters (or approximately between 43 ft.-45 ft.).

Crescenti said that an autopsy is being carried out to determine Payne’s official cause of death and that investigators were still trying to figure out the details of what happened leading up to his death.

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“We have a guest who is overindulged in drugs and alcohol and … Well, when he is conscious he breaks, he is breaking the whole room. Well, we need you to send someone, please,” the caller said.

Liam Payne in Dubai in January 2023.Jeff Spicer/Getty

Jeff Spicer/Getty

Policía Federal Argentina confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Oct. 16, that Payne was pronounced dead after falling multiple stories at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, and that an investigation is currently underway to determine the circumstances surrounding his death.

Payne had been in Argentina sinceat least early this month, when heattended the Oct. 2 concertof his former One Direction bandmate,Niall Horan, at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires with his girlfriendKate Cassidy.

source: people.com