Liam Payne Reportedly Died Trying to Escape Hotel via Balcony After Employees Forced Him Into Room

Liam Payne was seemingly trying to get out of his hotel room via the third floor balcony when he fell to his death in Argentina. Witness statements, surveillance footage, a 911 call and the police report all support this theory, according to TMZ.

TMZ obtained surveillance footage from the lobby of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires that was taken moments before the singer’s death. In the clips – which were taken while Liam was reportedly causing a disturbance and acting “erratic” in the main area of the hotel – three hotel staffers were carrying the late star back to his room.

Liam, who was 31 when he died on October 16, struggled with the employees as they tried to force him back into his room, according to TMZ. As Liam has openly spoken about in the past, he dislikes being forced to spend time locked behind hotel room doors like he had to during his One Direction days. The footage showed an employee using a master key to unlock Liam’s door and place him back inside.

The site reported that Liam has escaped via balconies in the past, citing a particular instance that took place in September when he allegedly used a garden hose to get down from a room inside a Florida rental home.

According to the 911 call from Argentina, employees were concerned about the balcony situation and told the operator, “I don’t know whether his life may be in danger. He is in a room with a balcony and, well, we’re a little afraid,” per TMZ. Regardless of the concerns, Liam was left inside his room, and sources told TMZ they believe the hotel is responsible for caring more about the lobby disturbance than Liam’s safety.

When the “Strip That Down” singer’s body was found, he had a hat on his head that he wasn’t wearing in the lobby surveillance footage. He also had a bag around his shoulder that he hadn’t been carrying before, supporting the theory that he was trying to escape from the balcony with his belongings. The police report also revealed that another one of Liam’s bags – which included a note that said “for Liam,” as well as pills and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s – was found on the second floor balcony. It’s believed that he dropped the bag before trying to lower himself onto the second floor, where he could jump to the ground more easily, according to TMZ.

The hotel replied with, “No comment,” which the site reached out.

Liam died “due to ‘multiple trauma’ and ‘a hemorrhage, internal and external,’ as a result of the fall that the musician suffered,” according to his autopsy report. He had alcohol and drugs in his system at the time of his death. “All the injuries that Payne presented were compatible with those caused by a fall from a height and that self-harm of any kind was ruled out,” according to the coroner.

“A conscious or voluntary act” on Liam’s part was ruled out because “in the state he was going through, he did not know what he was doing nor could he understand it,” the report said.