Three people have been charged in connection with the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne.

The British singer died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October. 

The public prosecutor’s office in the country said three people had been charged with “abandonment of a person followed by death” and supply and facilitation of narcotics in connection with the death of Payne. 

According to a translation of the statement on Thursday, prosecutors said “exhaustive and meticulous measures were taken to clarify the circumstances” around the former One Direction singer’s death. 

Prosecutors said one of the charged individuals had been accompanying the singer daily in Argentina and was accused of abandonment of a person followed by death, which could carry a sentence of up to 15 years. 

Another was an employee at the hotel where Payne was staying. 

The third person allegedly supplied drugs. 

Nine raids have also been ordered on properties in Buenos Aires and the investigation continues, with some of Payne’s devices still being analysed. 

The office said it had completed a detailed analysis of more than 800 hours of video from security cameras and obtained several dozen testimonies from hotel staff, family members, friends and medical professionals. 

Prosecutors said there was nothing to indicate any third party was involved in the death while they had also ruled out self-harm, according to a forensic psychiatric report. 

According to the autopsy, Payne died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. 

His body was found in the hotel’s internal courtyard. 

After Payne’s death, police found substances in his hotel room, and destroyed objects and furniture, according to the public prosecutor’s office. 

Fans from across the globe held vigils and music stars paid tribute after he died on October 16. 

In a group statement, his former band mates Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson said they were “completely devastated”, and would miss the singer terribly. 

The singer had found fame alongside the four boys when Simon Cowell put them together to form One Direction on the UK talent show The X Factor in 2010.

Payne had said he struggled with alcoholism at the peak of his success with One Direction, describing hitting “rock bottom” to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett.