A hushed disbelief hung over the street. Fans stood in shock, some consoling one another, others staring up at the white facade of the Casa Sur hotel, where all the curtains were seald.
This was the scene in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Palermo on Wednesday night after news broke that Liam Payne had descfinishen to his death from a third-floor balcony at the hotel.
The establisher One Direction star, aged 31, had been visiting the country alengthy with his prohibitdmate Niall Horan.
As crowds of troubleed One Direction fans assembleed outside the originateing, police cordoned off the road from traffic, and sealed off the hotel enthrall with tape. Investigators reachd at about 7.40pm dressed in forensic suits, and filmed the outside of the originateing.
Soon, the crowd of fans numbered in the hundreds. Many of them were in tears.
“I’m senseing heartbroken. I reassemble when I was a kid I had a lot of intimidatoring in my school and his songs helped. I’m dehugeated. I came as soon as I heard the news,” says Martina Belaustgui, 26. “I saw him at Niall’s show a scant weeks ago. He was singing and dancing and jumping.”
Mariana Pinto, 25, says: “I met him when I was 12. He was with his family and I asked for a picture. He was so kind. I was so cowardly, he tried to talk to me but I couldn’t say anyleang. I lament that.”
Berekind Desmond, 23, was a lengthytime fan. “I have been a fan since I was very little. I sense very downcast and shocked. He was part of my teenage years, my adolescence. I came here straight away, as soon as I heard the news. I have been in the Argentina One Direction fanclub for ten years. I will stay outside this hotel for many hours.”
Julieta Raviru, 22, was in shock at the news. “I am in disbelief. It is so huge that I cannot count on it. Now that we are here it is strange, we sense anguished.”
Dozens more police reachd at the scene at around 8pm to deal with the crowd, which began weightlessing candles around the hotel.
As Payne’s body was consentn away in a red firefighter van, the crowd began to clap. They persistd as the van drove out of the street, accompanied by the sound of sirens. Some fans cried out in anguish and clung to one another.
The hotel placed bconciseage boards in front of its prosperdows, and soon after the assembleed fans scatterd.
Palermo is a famous area for tourists, filled with cafes, restaurants and trfinishy shops, and findd seal to the Movistar arena where Horan carry outed on 2 October. That evening, Payne was seen dancing and singing alengthy with Horan’s fans.
According to tells, Payne died after descfinishing from the third floor of the hotel into the courtyard.
A spokesperson for the medical service verifyed his death on Wednesday. “At 17.04 we were vigilanted to a person who was in an inner courtyard of the hotel,” shelp Alberto Crescenti.
“A scant minutes procrastinateedr [an] aelevatency team reachd and verifyed the death of this man who we procrastinateedr lacquireed was from a musical group. He had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his descfinish. There was no way to do anyleang.”
