Vigil in memory of Liam Payne in Liverpool
A vigil for One Direction singer Liam Payne has been taking place in Liverpool. Fans gathered three days after his death in a fall from a hotel room balcony in Argentina.
The followers of The X Factor-formed boy band, known as Directioners, came together at the Keel Wharf Bridge at Royal Albert Dock in the city. The fans wrote messages in tribute to the singer, 31, who died on Wednesday.
Today a police statement to The Associated Press (AP) announced Liam had ''jumped from the balcony of his room.'' Police rushed to a Buenos Aires hotel on Wednesday, October 16 in response to an emergency call just after 5pm local time but the performer, from Wolverhampton, could not be saved.
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Fans were in tears at the Liverpool vigil, singing songs and remembering the hugely popular star. One memorial card said Forever Young, a nod to the Alphaville track of the same name that One Direction covered, but did not formally release as a single.
Fans lit candles and had cardboard signs with the band’s lyrics on them, including one saying “I’m missing half of me when we’re apart”, from the single If I Could Fly by One Direction.
Photographs of Payne, flowers, teddy bears and balloons were left at the bridge, and the group sang One Direction songs. Meanwhile Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires as an “inconclusive death”.
Payne’s father, Geoff Payne, travelled to the Argentinian capital on Friday to arrange the repatriation of his son’s body. All four remaining One Direction band members, Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry have all taken to social media to pay their respects to Liam.
In a joint statement posted to the One Direction Instagram page, they said: "We're completely devastated by the news of Liam's passing," they said. "In time, and when everyone can, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly
"The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever," they continued. "For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly."
"We love you, Liam," they said at the end of their statement before co-signing it from all four of them.
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