Liam Payne’s Cause of Death Shared by Officials

Yesterday, Liam Payne passed away at 31 after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today, officials have released his official cause of death, according to The Hollywood Reporter. After an autopsy, it was determined that Payne died due to “trauma and internal and external bleeding.” In accordance with protocol, the incident is being investigated as a “doubtful death.”

Doctors determined “the cause of death of Liam James Payne, determined macroscopically, has been polytrauma, internal and external hemorrhage,” according to a statement received by The Hollywood Reporter from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14 in Argentina. In a press release, the prosecutor’s office added that Payne “was going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse.”

The Mobile Criminalistics Unit of the City Police in Buenos Aires surveyed Payne’s hotel room and discovered substances that “would be narcotics and alcoholic beverages,” in addition to “several destroyed objects and furniture.” Without confirmation, however, an investigation into what those substances are is still underway.

“Beyond reconstructing the circumstances of the musician’s death, the investigation is also aimed at determining the possible involvement of third parties in the events prior to the victim’s death,” the prosecutor’s office press release adds. Prior to Payne’s death, the hotel’s manager called 911 and requested assistance for a guest who was “under the influence of drugs and alcohol and had destroyed some objects in the room.”

On Wednesday, Pablo Policicchio, communications director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry, told The Associated Press that Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room.” The prosecutor’s office supported that statement on Thursday, saying, “It is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen into a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”