Liam Payne’s cause of death confirmed in Autopsy report

The former One Direction singer died after falling from the third floor of a hotel.
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An autopsy report has confirmed Liam Payne’s cause of death a day after the singer passed away at the age of 31. Authorities have not yet released the official results of Payne’s toxicology report.

The autopsy report, according to a press release from the Argentina National Prosecutor’s Office, details how the singer died and sheds light on the injuries he sustained before passing away.

How did Liam Payne die?
The Sistema de Atencio Medica de Emergencia shared the following statement with Telemundo, part of NBCUniversal, after Payne’s death.

“British musician Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Palermo,” the statement read. “In the afternoon, police personnel from Precinct 14B were directed to the hotel by a 911 call reporting an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

The call, which occurred minutes before Payne’s death, according to the prosecutor’s office, did not name Payne, but local authorities have since confirmed it was about him, NBC News’ Chloe Melas reported.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires said Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room.” Medics noted that the singer had “extremely serious injuries” and declared him dead on the scene.

What did Liam Payne’s autopsy report show?
The Argentina National Prosecutor’s Office shared details from Payne’s autopsy in a press release.

Per the autopsy, Payne died of “polytrauma and internal and external bleeding.”

The prosecutor’s office called the death “doubtful/undetermined,” meaning there was no conclusive information about the cause of death.

Following Payne’s death, “a series of substances were seized from the musician’s room, which would prove a previous situation of alcohol and drugs consumption,” the release said.

Payne died as a result of “multiple traumatic injuries” and “internal and external bleeding” he sustained after falling from the balcony, according to the release from the prosecutor’s office.

Forensic experts found a total of 25 injuries “compatible with those produced by a fall from height.” The singer’s brain and skull (cranioencephalic) injuries in particular were “sufficiently suitable to cause death.”

The internal and external hemorrhages in his skull, chest, abdomen and limbs “contributed to the mechanism of death,” according to the release.

The public prosecutor said there were defensive wound’s on Payne’s hands, according to the Associated Press, meaning “he did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen into a state of semi- or total unconsciousness,” the outlet reported.

He was likely alone when he fell
Per the prosecutor’s office, “everything indicates that the musician was alone when the fall occurred, and that he was going through some kind of breakdown as a result of substance abuse.”

After forensic experts analyzed the singer’s hands, they did not find any defensive injuries, which led them to believe that “all the injuries on the body were vital and produced at the same time, and that no injuries were observed that could suggest the intervention of third parties.”

Additionally, the position of Payne’s body suggested that he “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.”

Additional studies to determine whether there was alcohol or drugs in Payne’s system at the time of his death have been requested, according to the prosecutor’s office. In Argentina, the toxicology report could take over a week, Melas said.

Preliminary toxicology results reportedly found that Payne had several substances in his system at the time of his passing, including “pink cocaine” — a cocktail of drugs that doesn’t include cocaine but includes methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and more, and gets it’s color from food dyes. The singer also had cocaine, crack and benzodiazepine, according to sources quoted by ABC News.

NBC News has not been able to independently confirm the reports. NBC News has reached out to Payne’s team and local authorities about the partial autopsy results but did not immediately receive responses.

Following Payne’s death, officials interviewed five witnesses. The group included three hotel workers and two women who had been with Payne in his room in the hours before his death but were not present at the time of death.

Per the prosecutor’s office, the ongoing investigation is “aimed at determining the possible involvement of third parties in the events prior to the victim’s death.”

Payne had previously been open about his struggles with substance use. He entered rehab for addiction in 2023, TODAY.com previously reported. “I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either,” he said in a YouTube video detailing his experience. At the time, he’d been sober for six months.

What is polytrauma?
The National Library of Medicine describes polytrauma as a condition characterized by “multiple injuries, some of which may cause significant disability and may be life-threatening.”

The prosecutor’s office’s statement defined polytrauma as “multiple traumatic injuries.”

Polytrauma usually means injuries involving multiple organs or systems. Common causes of polytrauma include car accidents, and suicide or homicide attempts.

Death due to polytrauma may occur as soon as the injuries are sustained or shortly after, or it may take longer, research shows. When it’s immediate, it’s usually due to a primary brain injury or significant of blood loss; when it’s later, it’s often due to a secondary brain injury or the body not being able to recover from the injuries.

On the afternoon of Payne’s death, authorities responded to a 911 call from Payne’s hotel made by a staff member about a guest who had destroyed objects in their room while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, according to audio of the call obtained by Telemundo.

The call was placed minutes before Payne’s death, according to the prosecutor’s office. The call does not mention Payne by name, but local authorities have since confirmed that the call was about Payne.

The guest had “overindulged in drugs and alcohol,” the transcript reads. “Well, when he is conscious he breaks … the whole room. Well, we need you to send someone, please.”

“And we need someone to be sent to us urgently, because well, I don’t know if he is at risk. The guest is in a room that has a balcony, and, well, we are a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” the caller said.

A press release from the Argentina National Prosecutor’s Office said that Payne died at the hotel Casa Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the neighborhood of Palermo. He was staying in a bedroom on the third floor of the hotel and fell from the balcony outside his room.