Three charged in connection with Liam Payne's death

The Wolverhampton-born pop star tragically died after falling from the third-floor balcony of his room at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16, aged 31.

A post-mortem examination found that Payne died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. His body was found in the hotel’s internal courtyard.

Police also found substances in his hotel room, and destroyed objects and furniture, according to the public prosecutor’s office.

Three people have now been arrested and charged with "abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics," said a statement by the office of prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea.

Argentinian prosecutors probing his death confirmed the arrests of three suspects who are under formal investigation. They confirmed that one of the suspects was a hotel worker. 

The crimes are said to be punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

The prosecutor's office also said it had completed a detailed analysis of more than 800 hours of video footage from security cameras and obtained several dozen testimonies from hotel staff, family members, friends and medical professionals.

Part of the statement read: “The National Prosecutor's Office for Criminal and Correctional Matters N°14, led by prosecutor Andrés Esteban Madrea, informs, following the lifting of the secrecy of summary proceedings, that within the framework of the investigation into the death of British musician Liam James Payne, which occurred on 16 October when he fell from a balcony in a hotel in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Palermo, unlawful conduct was discovered, as a result of which three people were charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics."

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.” 

Nine raids have also been ordered on properties in Buenos Aires and the investigation continues with some of Payne’s devices still being analysed.

It is believed the former One Direction star's body returned back to the UK this week, with his funeral expected to take place the coming days.