Five charged in connection with Liam Payne's death, reports say

 
Five people have been charged in connection with the death of One Direction singer Liam Payne in Argentina, local media reports.

The 31-year-old star died on October 16 after falling from the third floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires.

Hotel manager Gilda Martin and hotel employee Esteban Grassi, as well as Roger Nores, who is said to have been a friend of Payne's, have been charged with manslaughter, Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office was quoted as saying.

Brian Paiz and Ezequiel Pereyra, who both reportedly worked at the hotel, have been charged with supplying drugs.

A judge has ordered that two of the five accused be remanded in custody, according to Argentine news website Infobae.

The pair, whose names have not been reported, have been summoned to appear in court within 24 working hours, Infobae added.

Argentine authorities have been investigating Payne's final days at the CasaSur hotel.

It was previously announced in November that three people had been charged in his death, but their names were not released at the time.

Speaking to US news outlet TMZ after Payne's death, Roger Nores said he was a "very good friend" of the singer and they had spent time together on the day the star died.

He said Payne "seemed in high spirits and happy" when he broke up with him about an hour before the musician fell from the balcony.

After Payne's death, police found substances in his hotel room, objects and furniture that had been damaged.

Hotel staff had made two calls to emergency services saying they had a guest who had taken "a lot of drugs and alcohol" and was "cleaning the whole room", it was reported.

In November, the prosecutor's office said toxicology tests revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in Payne's body.

The post-mortem examination determined the cause of his death as "multiple trauma" and "internal and external hemorrhage", as a result of falling from the hotel balcony.

According to the prosecutor's office, medical reports also suggested that Payne may have fallen into a state of semi-sleep or total unconsciousness.

The prosecutor's office said this ruled out the possibility of a voluntary act by Payne and they had concluded that the singer did not know what he was doing nor was he conscious of his actions.

Payne became one of pop's most recognizable names after appearing on 'The X Factor' and rising to fame with One Direction in the 2010s, before the band went on an indefinite hiatus in January of this year 2016.

The singer's funeral was held in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, last month.

His former bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik were among the mourners, along with Payne's girlfriend Kate Cassidy and his ex-partner Cheryl, with whom he has a son .

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