Vigils for Liam Payne across globe as fans grieve star's death

(Click through the slideshow above)

Vigils for Liam Payne have been held across the world as fans mourned the star's death.

Tributes were held in cities including London, Glasgow, Paris, Sydney and New York – as well as in the Philippines and Colombia – to celebrate the life of the 31-year-old, who died on Wednesday.

In London's Hyde Park, hundreds of fans queued on Sunday afternoon to leave handwritten notes, balloons and flowers at the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, as well as singing One Direction chart-toppers such as What Makes You Beautiful in unison.

Other tribute events to Payne were held at the Obelisco landmark in Buenos Aires, at the Tuileries Garden in Paris, at the Stockholm music studio in Sweden where One Direction recorded albums, central Brussels, and the British Embassy in Russia.

Speaking at the gathering in London, Lauren, 26, from Kent, told the PA news agency: “It’s more comforting being with other people, because these people get it, whereas back at home, you’re just kind of on your own, and it’s quite tough, you’re stuck in your own thoughts, and here you can talk about it.”

Natasha Bradley, 23, who attended the memorial with Lauren Anderson, also 23, said: “I’ve literally been feeling so sad like ever since the news came on, I just didn’t believe that," adding that she wanted to be around people who were “feeling the same because your parents, they don’t really understand how much they really meant to you growing up”.

Tess Hayden, 24, from the US, ended her visit to Dublin abruptly so she could share her grief with fellow fans, saying: “Well, my older brother and I had been planning a trip to Dublin for a while, and I knew I was gonna try and come to London at some point at the end of the trip, but when I woke up and heard the news, I was like, ‘okay, I’ll just go a day earlier (and) try and figure (it) out.”

The vigils come after Payne’s father Geoff visited the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, where the Wolverhampton star fell from a third-floor balcony, on Friday.

Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said.