One Direction star Liam Payne's tragic fall: An unfolding mystery

A number of substances, which could indicate prior use of alcohol and other intoxicants, were found in his hotel room, according to the prosecutor's statement.

Payne's body was discovered on Wednesday afternoon local time (11 a.m. Greenwich Time) in the inner courtyard of the hotel, located in the Palermo district of the capital. The musician had been staying in a room with a balcony on the third floor of the building.

"The National Prosecutor's Office for Criminal and Correctional Matters N°16, under the interim charge of Marcelo Roma, can confirm that the autopsy on British musician Liam James Payne, 31, determined that the former member of the boy band One Direction died of multiple injuries and internal and external haemorrhaging," the autopsy report stated, as quoted in the prosecutor's communication.

Additional tests, including toxicological analyses, have been ordered.

Investigators concluded that the 25 injuries described in the autopsy report are consistent with injuries sustained from a fall from height. No injuries suggesting the involvement of a third party were found on the body.

The prosecutor noted that, based on the wounds and the body's position, it is believed that he did not assume a reflexive defensive posture and might have been in a state of complete or partial unconsciousness, it added.

Statements were collected from five witnesses, including three hotel employees and two women who were previously with Payne in his room but were no longer present at the hotel at the time of his death, according to the prosecutor's report.

Payne gained international fame as a member of the now-defunct British-Irish pop band One Direction, where he performed alongside Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson.

According to the Infobae portal, the main hypothesis of the investigators currently points to suicide, potentially related to a mental health crisis due to substance use. Payne was alone in the room at the time of his fall, the portal reported.

In the room, among other things, were a bottle of whiskey, a substance resembling cocaine, aluminium foil, and charred fragments of drink cans. The room's television screen was smashed, Argentine media reported.

The press also revealed that before the musician's death, the hotel reception manager called the emergency services and requested an ambulance team. He reported a guest who "is intoxicated by drugs and alcohol," and "when he's conscious, he breaks, he's breaking the whole room." He also expressed concern for the guest's life, noting that he occupied a room with a balcony.