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Liam Payne’s tragic fall ‘was captured on CCTV’ after he ‘fainted’ on balcony. (Image: Getty)
The horror moment Liam Payne fell from his third-floor Buenos Aires hotel balcony was captured on CCTV, an Argentinian broadcast journalist has claimed.
Paula Varela said the footage showed the former One Direction singer had fallen after he “fainted” on the balcony, but claimed authorities had chosen not to share it with the public.
Paula, 45, also claimed on a popular Argentinian TV show that a night worker at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel who had struck up a close relationship with Liam was the focus of an ongoing investigation which was trying to establish who supplied him with the drugs suspected of contributing to his death on October 16.
Paula said on Socios del Espectaculo, a show broadcast on Buenos Aires-based TV station Canal 13: “There is footage that is not being released to the media with the balcony scene where you see that Liam faints and tragically because of where he is, falls from that balcony. If he had been beside his bed he would have fallen on his bed.
“It’s not that he jumped deliberately. This footage is in the official case files.”
Liam Payne died in Argentina on October 16. (Image: Getty)
She also said: “There’s a lad who’s being investigated, he was working nights at the hotel. He’s 20 and had struck up an excellent relationship with Liam. He’s from Lomas de Zamora on the outskirts of Buenos Aires but we’re not going to say his name.
“He disobeyed an order from the hotel management. What was the order he disobeyed? It was not to take anything into Liam’s room.
“Because of the good relationship he had with Liam he requested a car through one of these taxi apps we all use because Liam wanted something.
“He did him that favour, a massive error because he’s being investigated, and they’re seeing what was transferred in that vehicle.
“It’s one of the things the investigators are looking at at the moment and obviously this hotel worker has been suspended. He’s a cherished member of staff, a good worker, but he disobeyed an order that could have proved fatal.”
Liam Payne shares a seven-year-old son with Cheryl. (Image: Getty)
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Prosecutors said in a statement after Liam’s death they believed he was in “in a state of semi or total unconsciousness" during a substance-induced “psychotic episode” when he fell.
The 31-year-old died of multiple trauma injuries which had caused “internal and external haemorrhaging”. His 25 “life-threatening” injuries are believed to have included a skull fracture.
Investigators have indicated they do not suspect any “third-party” involvement but have made it clear the hunt is still on for his dealer amid speculation someone from his hotel was supplying him with narcotics.
Argentinian news outlet Infobae reported last week that forensic experts had discovered traces of cocaine in Liam's body, but tests on white powder pictured inside his hotel suite had so far proved “inconclusive”.
Other unconfirmed reports originating in the US claimed a cocktail of drugs including pink cocaine had been found in his system during a partial autopsy.
Last Thursday, Buenos Aires police swooped on the hotel Liam died at and were seen going through documents and examining computers in the lobby.
The singer’s dad, Geoff, flew to Buenos Aires after learning of the tragedy to try to speed up the repatriation of the singer’s body.
He was told during a meeting with prosecutor Andres Madrea last Tuesday that will not happen before toxicology and tissue tests are complete.
English (US) ·