A preliminary toxicology report suggests One Direction star Liam Payne had cocaine in his system, an Argentinian official told the Associated Press.
Officials are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the singer (31), who died after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
The final toxicology results are not expected to be made public for some weeks, but the initial report suggested evidence of exposure to cocaine, an official told the Associated Press.
However, the official stressed the initial results do not offer an accurate reading of how much was circulating in his blood when he died.
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Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a postmortem report said.
Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death”.
It said five witnesses were questioned to reconstruct what happened at the CasaSur Hotel in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires.
Reports say staff at the hotel made two calls to emergency services, with audio revealing a staff member had asked for assistance for a guest who was “intoxicated by drugs and alcohol”.
Police officers and the emergency services found Payne dead at the scene and his body was transferred to the judicial morgue.
The prosecutor’s office indicated the musician was alone when the fall occurred and said he appeared to be “going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse”.
Forensic experts said no injuries were observed that would suggest the intervention of third parties, although “the investigation is also aimed at determining the possible intervention of third parties in the events prior to his death”.
Police in the Argentinian capital previously said the music star’s hotel room had been “in complete disarray” with “various items broken”.
Payne’s father has travelled to Argentina to arrange the repatriation of his body.
Payne’s fellow bandmates – Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles – paid emotional tributes to him and a joint statement from the band said they were “completely devastated” and will miss the singer “terribly”, adding the “memories we shared with him will be treasured forever”.
Thousands of fans of the singer gathered to remember him at memorial events around the world over the weekend. – PA
