LIAM Payne “could have been saved” before he fell to his death if an ambulance had been called, a source has claimed.

The former One Direction star died after falling 45ft from his hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires at 5.04pm on Wednesday.

Liam Payne has died aged 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel in Argentina

The star chatting with fans outside his Buenos Aires hotel hours before his death

One of Liam’s final Snapchat posts before his death

A firefighter ambulance departed the Casa Sur hotel with Liam’s body
Insiders are said to believe he would “still be with us” if an ambulance had been called when he collapsed in the hotel lobby earlier that day.

A source told the Mail: “If someone had called an ambulance when he collapsed in the hotel lobby instead of taking him back to his room and leaving him in there alone, in a psychotic state, he would still be with us.”

Liam’s family said after his passing: “We are heartbroken.

“Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.

“We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space during this awful time.”

His parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, were seen leaving their home in the middle of the night on Wednesday.

They left “in a hurry” at around midnight as news of Liam’s death reached the family home in Wolverhampton.

On Thursday morning the downstairs curtains remained drawn at the four bedroom detached house in Codsall.

A family member who answered the door told reporters: “We’re obviously devastated at the news but we don’t want to comment.”

Neighbours said the couple left in a hurry while two women, believed to be Liam’s sisters, Ruth and Nicola, were seen entering the property at 9am on Thursday.

X Factor star Mary Byrne described Liam Payne as “a wonderful soul” — but said his fame from One Direction “went far too big, far too quick”.

The Irish singer, 64, became pals with Liam when they were both on the ITV show in 2010 and were in the X Factor house.

She revealed she saw him as her “surrogate son” while he referred to her as his “Mammy”.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, she said: “There was a beauty about Liam that no one would get to see unless you were close to him.

“I am not even related to him and I am finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that this wonderful little soul is gone.”

She added: “I don’t know what happened along the way — mental health is very fragile.

“I wouldn’t say fame wasn’t for him but I would say that they went far too big, far too quick — they literally burned out after five years.”

Mary said that she last spoke to Liam six years ago when he was in Dublin alongside his bandmates for Irish channel RTE’s Late Late Show.
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She said he had told her of his struggles with being trapped in hotel rooms on tour, unable to go out due to excited fans outside.

She said: “He said it was tough, he said it was very tough.

“He said ‘I am loving it, it is brilliant’. But he said ‘It is hard and it is not what I expected’ — those were the words he said.”

Mary said she had burst into tears at her home in Calpe, Spain, when she heard the news of Liam’s death.

She said: “I was following his career and these young men and you are thinking how proud you are.

“I always felt proud like a mother because I was the Mammy figure in the house.

“I can’t even imagine what his mother and father are feeling. I can’t.”

Tributes to Liam Payne