Liam Payne fell to his death from the third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this month. It has been claimed that he fell after ‘fainting’

An Argentinian journalist has made a shocking claim about the tragic incident involving Liam Payne, who reportedly fell from his third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires. The former One Direction star tragically passed away earlier this month while on holiday in Argentina, where he had attended Niall Horan’s concert with his partner Kate Cassidy.

Broadcast journalist Paula Varela alleges that CCTV footage captured the moment when Payne “fainted” on his balcony, suggesting the video is being withheld by authorities. On the popular TV show Socios del Espectaculo, which airs on Canal 13, Varela also mentioned that a hotel night worker who had become close to Liam is under investigation, as part of efforts to determine the source of drugs believed to have played a role in his untimely death on October 16.

Varela stated: “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. There’s a lad who’s being investigated, he was working nights at the hotel. He struck up an excellent relationship with Liam. He disobeyed an order from the hotel management. What was the order he disobeyed? It was not to take anything into Liam’s room.”

She went on to say: “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.”

Prosecutors stated after Liam’s death that they believed he was in “in a state of semi or total unconsciousness” during a substance-induced ‘psychotic episode’ when he fell, reports the Mirror.

Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, confirmed that the singer fell into an internal courtyard. Speaking to Argentina’s Todo Noticias TV channel, Crescenti said: “A few minutes later [an] emergency team arrived and confirmed the death of this man who we later learned was from a musical group. He had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall. There was no way to do anything.”

The toxicology report suggested that the position in which his body was found, coupled with the injuries from the fall, meant that “it is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.”