BBCLiam Payne’s former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan has said he is “absolutely devastated” by the “passing of his amazing friend”.
Payne died on Wednesday evening in Buenos Aires and had flown in to Argentina to see Horan perform on tour.
“I’m absolutely devastated about the passing of my amazing friend, Liam. It just doesn’t feel real,” Horan wrote.
“Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure,” Horan also said.
The statement, posted on Instagram, continued: “All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a litetime.
“I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.
