Three people charged in connection with death of One Direction star Liam Payne

Three people have been charged over the tragic death of former One Direction star Liam Payne.

The singer died at the age of 31 following a fall from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month.

The public prosecutor’s office in Argentina said three people had been charged with “abandonment of a person followed by death” and supply and facilitation of narcotics in connection with the death of Payne.

According to a translation of the statement, prosecutors said “exhaustive and meticulous measures were taken to clarify the circumstances” around the former One Direction singer’s death.

The statement said: “Based on the evidence gathered and after analysing the various bodies of proceedings and numerous documentary annexes and the background of the case, prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea formally charged three people, requesting their questioning and arrest in a 180-page ruling presented last Friday to Judge Bruniard.”

Prosecutors said one of the accused was accompanying the singer in Argentina while another was an employee at the hotel where Payne was staying. The third person allegedly supplied drugs.

Nine raids have also been ordered on properties in Buenos Aires and the investigation continues with some of Payne’s devices still being analysed.

The office also said it had completed a detailed analysis of more than 800 hours of video footage from security cameras and obtained several dozen testimonies from hotel staff, family members, friends and medical professionals.

An autopsy reported that Payne's death was due to multiple injuries and both internal and external haemorrhaging resulting from the fall, with his body being located in the hotel's courtyard. Following the incident, law enforcement officials uncovered drugs in Payne's suite along with evidence of destroyed objects and furniture.

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