Liam Payne’s haunting final Snapchat posts: One Direction star cosied-up to girlfriend Kate Cassidy just an hour before death aged 31

Liam Payne’s final post to social media showed him shirtless, posing next to his girlfriend Kate Cassidy before he died after a fall at his upmarket hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The former One Direction star reportedly fell from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palmero Hotel, shortly after 5pm on Wednesday evening, local time.

Shirtless Payne was seen smiling as he posed next to an equally happy and bikini-clad Cassidy in a mirror selfie an image thought to have been posted within an hour of the fall.

Other recent posts on the pop star’s Snapchat show him enjoying his time in the Argentinian capital and lunching in his hotel room, saying he and Cassidy were enjoying late mornings, “getting up at 1pm”, and had plans to dress as Forrest Gump for Halloween.

Another selfie photo was captioned, “Lovely day in Argentina”, with the star also writing: ‘Happy I got some time away’ followed by a heart emoji.

Another photo, alongside Cassidy was captioned: “Quality time.”

Fans are gathering and emergency services can be seen outside the hotel, where a red tent is set up around the scene.

According to La Nacion the local police station was called by the hotel manager who reported “an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.

The fall was reportedly 13m to 14m and Payne suffered “very serious injuries incompatible with life”.

The head of local emergency services SAME (El Sistema de Atención Médica de Emergencias, Alberto Crescent said in a televised statement in Argentina: “At 17.04, through 911, the integrated public security system, we were alerted about a person who was in an internal courtyard of the Casa Sur hotel.

“At 17.11, a SAME team arrived and confirmed the man’s death. We later learned that he was a singer in a musical group.

“Unfortunately, he had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death. There was no possibility of resuscitation.”

Payne rose to global fame as part of the British boy band sensation One Direction, who formed on The X Factor UK in 2010 and went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.

Alongside Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan, Payne enjoyed monumental success, with hits including What Makes You Beautiful, Story of My Life, and Drag Me Down.

The band earned countless awards and sold millions of albums worldwide before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Following the group’s split, Payne embarked on a solo career, releasing singles such as Strip That Down and Stack It Up.

On October 2 Payne was spotted at former bandmate Horan’s concert in Argentina.

Payne is father to a seven-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with singer Cheryl Cole.