An Argentina prosecutor has confirmed that the body of Liam Payne cannot be released until further toxicology reports have been completed.
Payne's father has travelled to Buenos Aires to arrange the repatriation of his body after the 31-year-old died falling from the third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel last week.
A representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office informed Geoff Payne that the results of the toxicology and histopathological report, complementary to the post-mortem, would be necessary to decide on the release of his son’s body.
The final toxicology results are not expected to be made public for some weeks, but the initial report suggested evidence of exposure to cocaine, an official told the Associated Press, but stressed the initial results do not offer an accurate reading of how much was circulating in his blood when he died.
For the investigation, expert reports are being carried out on mobile phones, computers and security cameras, which the Prosecutor’s Office said, "require a longer analysis time".
A press release from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office also said that reconstruction of the events, which has involved taking numerous statements from hotel workers and medical professionals, is "still ongoing".
A post-mortem examination report said Payne died of multiple traumas and "internal and external haemorrhage".
Police officers and the emergency services found the music star dead at the scene on October 16 and his body was transferred to the judicial morgue.
The prosecutor’s office indicated the musician was alone when the fall occurred and said he appeared to be "going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse".
Reports say staff at the hotel made two calls to emergency services, with audio revealing a staff member had asked for assistance for a guest who was "intoxicated by drugs and alcohol".
Police in the Argentine capital previously said the music star’s hotel room had been "in complete disarray" with "various items broken".
They added that a whiskey bottle, lighter and mobile phone had been retrieved from the internal hotel courtyard where Payne’s body was found.
Tributes have flooded in for Payne since the news of his death, including from his former partner Cheryl, his One Direction bandmates, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, and music mogul Simon Cowell.
Source: Press Association
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