Candle-lit vigil held for Liam Payne in Manchester after One Direction star's tragic death

An emotional vigil to remember One Direction star Liam Payne was held in Manchester city centre after his tragic death aged 31.

The singer died after falling from the balcony of his third-floor room at CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires, last Wednesday (October 16).

Devoted fans of the X Factor-formed boy band, known as "Directioners," honoured the 31-year-old in touching candle-lit vigils across the UK and the world over the weekend.

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In Manchester, emotional fans gathered at Cathedral Gardens to lay flowers and light candles in memory of Payne. Hundreds gathered clutching balloons and wiping away tears as they paid tribute to the singer.

Handwritten messages were also laid during the vigil as supporters embraced one another in a moment of silence for the One Direction star.

Amelia Ainscough has helped organise the Manchester gathering with a friend. The 18-year-old, who has just completed her cabin crew studies, hoped the vigil would provide a sense of closure for fans following the tragedy.

"I thought it would be nice to be able to gather fans together to support each other,” Amelia, who lives in Wigan, told the Manchester Evening News previously.

“I guess it gives everyone a sort of personal goodbye as well as a feeling of closure to what’s happened. We have had this shared all over social media and we are maybe expecting to have more than 100 people attending.

“I was four when I first saw them audition for The X Factor, and I'm 18 now. I've loved them ever since, so I have really sort of grown up with them. When he passed, I got emotional straight away. It’s not easy.

“Like a lot of other fans, there are moments of tears. Even now, a few days later, it’s still not any easier."

Over the weekend, thousands of fans have tearfully remembered the late One Direction singer at memorial events in the UK and many other parts of the world.

They gathered, sang and left tributes in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Paris, Sydney and New York – as well as in the Philippines and Colombia – to celebrate the life of the 31-year-old.

On Sunday afternoon in Hyde Park, central London, hundreds of fans queued to leave handwritten notes, balloons and flowers at the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens.

Many of the mainly young people at the vigil embraced their friends and family members as they became emotional, while remembering the band they grew up with, as well as singing One Direction chart-toppers such as What Makes You Beautiful in unison.

Before the weekend, Payne’s father headed to Buenos Aires to arrange the repatriation of his son’s body.

Geoff Payne visited the Casa Sur Hotel on Friday in the Argentine capital, where the Wolverhampton star fell from a third-floor balcony, and read letters and cards from fans outside.