This was, for the most part, perfect fodder for television reporters, who rounded up as many teenage girls in tears as they could. Why did they love Payne so much? One girl was inconsolable, after her 60 seconds of fame for a television interview, as friends hugged her tight. There was also a candlelight vigil to pay respects to a talented artist who’d spent more than half his life in the public eye.
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Mourners pressed up against the window of the hotel to catch a glimpse of police and detectives going about their work. It didn’t take long for security to put boards up, which didn’t really stop people peering through windows. Some hotel guests even tried to check out, eager to stay somewhere else for the night.
Fans console each other as they process the news. Credit: Getty Images
Just after 9pm local time, the road in front of the hotel was reopened. One Argentinian man wound down his window and asked a television reporter what the commotion was all about. “Liam Payne. One Direction. Dead,” the reporter replied.
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Taken aback, the driver shook his head and uttered just two words: “So sad.”
