The area outside the hotel in Buenos Aires was quickly cordoned off after the news of One Direction singer Liam Payne, 31, dying after a fall from the third floor. Pictures show how police on motorcycles and on foot are maintaining order, while grieving fans are gathering on the other side of the police barriers.
I'm in shock, I can't believe it. I live five blocks away and thought I had to come here, says Martina Di Lalla, who is outside the hotel, to AFP.
Haven't given up hope
The 23-year-old is one of many so-called "Directioners", fans of the band One Direction where Liam Payne previously was a member.
The boy band, which was formed in 2010 and had great success, took a break in 2016. But 21-year-old Lena Durek had not given up hope of a reunion.
It feels like a part of my teenage years has been lost, she says to AFP.
Music journalist Eve Barlow says to Sky News that One Direction's fans are among the most dedicated she has heard of.
I'm sure the fans will be in a state of absolute shock after these terrible news, she says.
Phenomenon with a dark side
Ben Beaumont-Thomas, music editor at The Guardian, says to Sky News that boy bands were more or less played out as a phenomenon after the 1990s heyday with Backstreet Boys and NSYNC – until One Direction came.
Liam was part of One Direction that took it back completely, and made it a pop cultural force again, he says to Sky News.
Payne had, both with One Direction and in his solo career, an enormous impact on pop culture according to Beaumont-Thomas, who also notes that the success had a darker side.
Liam was someone who throughout his entire career experienced scrutiny from the tabloid press and gossip columns on social media stronger than any of us could imagine, he says.
