Three arrested in connection with Liam Payne’s death in Argentina

Three people have been charged in connection with Liam Payne’s death in Argentina last month for supplying narcotics and the abandonment of a person followed by death.

The singer died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casar sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.

Persecutors said in a statement on Thursday the toxicology tests found traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in Payne’s body at the time of his death.

The statement also said that "exhaustive and meticulous measures were taken to clarify the circumstances" around the singer’s death.

It added: "Based on the evidence gathered and after analysing the various bodies of proceedings and numerous documentary annexes and the background of the case, prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea formally charged three people, requesting their questioning and arrest in a 180-page ruling presented last Friday to Judge Bruniard."

According to prosecutors, one of the suspects “accompanied the artist on a daily basis”, while a hotel employee and a third person were charged with supplying drugs.

They also said that they ruled out “self-harm” and “physical intervention by a third party” as a cause of death, writing: “The lack of defence or self-preservation reflex in the fall, together with other relevant data from his consumption, allow us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall.”