Three people charged in connection with Liam Payne's death

Three people have been charged by Argentinian authorities in connection with the death of Liam Payne.

Prosecutors said one person who accompanied the artist on a daily basis in Argentina has been charged with the abandonment of a person followed by death and the supply and facilitation of narcotics, the BBC reports.

An employee at the hotel Liam was staying in and a third person have also been charged with supplying narcotics. None of those charged have been named.

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According to a translation of the statement, prosecutors said "exhaustive and meticulous measures were taken to clarify the circumstances" around the former One Direction singer’s death.

The statement said officials in Argentina had carried out a forensic analysis of Payne’s phone, including his call and message history, and also reviewed 800 hours of video footage from security cameras at the hotel and on nearby roads.

They are also continuing to investigate Payne's broken laptop and other devices seized. In addition, nine raids of homes in Buenos Aires have been carried out.

The statement said: "Based on the evidence gathered and after analysing the various bodies of proceedings and numerous documentary annexes and the background of the case, prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea formally charged three people, requesting their questioning and arrest in a 180-page ruling presented last Friday to Judge Bruniard."

The singer died three weeks ago after falling from a third-floor balcony of the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires.

The public prosecutor's office said toxicology tests revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his body.

A post-mortem examination determined his cause of death as "multiple trauma" and "internal and external haemorrhage" as a result of the fall from the hotel balcony.

According to the prosecutor's office, medical reports also suggested Payne may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness. The prosecutor's office say this rules out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act by Payne, and they conclude he did not know what he was doing nor did he understand it.

Liam's body was released to his family on Wednesday and has been flown back to the UK. He is survived by his parents Karen and Geoff Payne, his two older sisters Nicola and Ruth, and his seven-year-old a son, Bear, with singer Cheryl.