Liam Payne's official cause of death confirmed in UK inquest
The official cause of Liam Payne's death has been confirmed in a UK inquest opening.
According to a Jan. 8 report by BBC, it was declared in a hearing that the One Direction star died of polytrauma after falling from the third floor of his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. The medical cause of his passing was confirmed by Dr. Roberto Victor Cohen.
The National Institutes of Health said polytrauma is a term used for "severely injured patients" involved in the "incidence of the traumatic shock and/or hemorrhagic hypotensis" as well as a "serious endangering of one or more vital functions of the organism." The NIH added that "at least one out of two or more injuries or the sum total of all injuries endangers the life of the injured person with polytrauma."
"[While] there are ongoing investigations in Argentina into the circumstances of Liam's death, over which I have no legal jurisdiction, it is anticipated that procuring the relevant information to address particularly how Liam came by his death may take some time through the formal channel of the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office," Senior Coroner Crispin Butler is quoted as saying.
The singer was formally identified "with the assistance of the funeral directors in Buckinghamshire," as declared at the Dec. 17 hearing on the singer's passing in the UK. The inquest has been adjourned until a pre-inquest review on Nov. 6, per the media outlet.
Payne fell to his death from his third-floor balcony on Oct. 16. He was 31.
TMZ reported that CCTV footage showed that the late singer was seemingly trying to get out of the Buenos Aires hotel when he died. It's presumed that he "was trying to get from the third floor balcony to the second floor balcony, and then jump a short distance to the ground," the media outlet reported, adding that Payne had used the "balcony escape plan" in the past, with the most recent one in September when he was suspected to have been on a "drug binge."
His body was delivered to his father, Geoff Payne, in November after an autopsy report, including several toxicology tests, showed Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his system in the moments before his passing.
His funeral was held on Nov. 20 at St. Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Aside from his parents, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and ex Cheryl Tweedy were there. His former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson were also spotted at the private service.
Five people have been charged in connection to Payne's death so far.
