The chief receptionist at Liam Payne’s hotel called the Buenos Aires emergency services minutes before the star’s death to warn that he was “breaking everything” and begged them to come quickly, a recording of the call has revealed.
“We have a guest who’s out of it because of drugs and alcohol. And when he’s conscious, he’s breaking everything in the room,” says a man who identifies himself as Esteban, head receptionist at the CasaSur Hotel.
“We need you to send someone urgently because, well, I don’t know if the guest’s life is at risk,” the receptionist says. “He’s staying in a room that has a balcony. And, well, we’re a bit afraid that he’ll do something that would put his life in danger.”
Photos from Payne’s hotel room show damage to the hotel room, including a smashed television screen. They also show a table covered in pieces of tin foil, cling film, a green cigarette lighter, a tea light, and what appears to be a white powder. On the table were black marks that looked like burns.
The former One Direction star died on Wednesday at 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel on Costa Rica street in Palermo. Police confirmed his death shortly after 6 p.m.
Payne died instantly from severe injuries suffered in the fall. The Buenos Aires City police confirmed to the Herald that the initial autopsy report found that he had died from “multiple injuries and internal and external bleeding.”
However, forensics experts are continuing to investigate the circumstances of his death. TV channel C5N reported that an initial autopsy found no injuries to his arms or hands, indicating that he did not stretch his arms out to protect himself when he fell.
Outside the CasaSur hotel Thursday morning, the pavement was plastered with melted wax from the forest of candles Payne’s fans had lit to pay tribute to him. Handwritten notes and bunches of flowers were strewn across the pavement at the base of a tree. Magazine posters of Payne during his One Direction days were taped to the trunk.
Fans told the Herald Wednesday night that they had rushed to the scene when they heard of the tragedy. “This is one of the craziest things ever to happen to me,” one said.
The British Embassy in Argentina told the Herald: “We are in contact with the local authorities regarding reports of the death Liam Payne in Argentina.”