The 31-year-old singer had fallen from the third floor of a hotel in the capital Buenos Aires, suffering "extremely serious injuries", police said.

Follow latest updates after Liam Payne found dead

Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, said on Argentinian television that Payne fell into a courtyard of the CasaSur Hotel in the trendy Palermo neighbourhood.

Pablo Policicchio, a spokesperson for the security ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, said the musician "had thrown himself from the balcony of his room".

However Mr Crescenti declined to answer questions over how Payne fell from the balcony.

The official said authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death and conducting a post-mortem examination.

According to TV network Telemundo, police had been called to the hotel to reports of an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Argentinian media reported that Payne was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.

Hernan Palazzo, who works near the hotel, said the neighbourhood was "very shaken up... there's a lot of police, some fans arriving. It is very sad."

Payne had posted on Snapchat in the last few hours, saying it was a "lovely day here in Argentina".

"Just enjoying coffee and breakfast, even though it's like 1pm," he said. "Literally sleep in every day until like 12. We're such losers."

The star spoke about "going to ride some horses" and said: "Think I'm going to play polo again which is going to put me out of action for about six weeks."

"It's going to be a nice day," he added.

Payne embarked on a solo career after One Direction announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus in 2015.

He was part of the original line-up, formed on X Factor in 2010, alongside Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Harry Styles.

Payne has a seven-year-old son called Bear from his previous relationship with singer Cheryl, who was a judge on X Factor.

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