Argentina charges 3 over death of One Direction's Liam Payne

Argentinian prosecutors on Thursday said three people had been charged over the death of British singer Liam Payne.

The former One Direction star fell to his death at a hotel in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires in a shocking incident last month. 

Authorities said the three arrested included a suspected drug dealer, a hotel employee who may have provided Payne with cocaine and someone close to the singer. 

The hotel employee and drug dealer are accused of providing Payne with cocaine during his stay. The person who was visiting with Payne is also charged with "abandonment of a person followed by death," prosecutor Andres Madrea said.

The names of the accused have not been revealed but authorities say they have been prohibited from leaving the country.

What were the circumstances of Payne's death? 

The 31-year-old singer was staying at a hotel in upscale neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires.

A hotel employee had made an emergency 911 call shortly before his death, saying that he was acting aggressively and could have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Witnesses told local media they had seen Payne smash his laptop in the hotel lobby on the day of his death.

A statement from the prosecutor's office said an autopsy report revealed traces of cocaine, alcohol and prescription anti-depressant in Payne's system.

The autopsy said he died from multiple injuries and external bleeding due to the fall. It showed his injuries were not caused by self-harm nor by others.

Payne's body was flown back to England and handed to his father Geoff. He is survived by his parents and two sisters, as well as a 7-year-old son.

Why was Payne in Argentina? 

Payne was part of the hugely successful British boy band One Direction, which declared indefinite hiatus. He and his former bandmates former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson went on to pursue solo careers.

Payne had attended Horan's concert in Buenos Aires on October 2, two weeks before he died. 

The charges made in Payne's case bear some resemblance to the death of US sitcom "Friends" star Matthew Perry's case. Perry's close friend also supplied him with ketamine during his final months, which led to him overdosing and his subsequent death a year ago.

Similar charges were also made in the case of rapper Mac Miller in 2018, who died due to opium overdosing.

tg/wd (AP, Reuters)