Fact-Check: 2023 video of Mexico City falsely relates to British Singer Liam Payne’s death. Discover the facts

On Wednesday, October 16, Ex- member of the boyband One Direction and famous British singer Liam Payne died in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina after falling from the third floor of a hotel Balcony.

His shocking death has sent shockwaves to one-direction fans. Amid this, a surge in misinformation can be observed on social media platforms. Recently, a video has emerged on the internet showing a man falling from a window of a building. The video has been shared by several users on social media platforms X (formerly Twitter) who are alleging that it’s Liam who died after falling from a balcony in Argentina.

Taking to X, an account with the username @tujan_yemen99 posted this video and wrote: “British singer Liam Payne, former member of One Direction, commits suicide after… He was known for his betrayal of his lover. He threw himself from the third floor” (Translated from Arabic)

Moreover, other users shared this video and made similar claims. One of the accounts with the username @ThexnewsX shared this video and claimed: “British singer Liam Payne, a former member of One Direction, committed suicide after learning of his girlfriend’s betrayal by throwing himself from the third floor” (Translated from Arabic)

Fact-check

The DFRAC team investigated the above viral video. A reverse-image search of the video’s keyframes led us to some reports published in 2023, featured screengrabs from the viral video.

Additionally, the reports stated that a man fell from the third floor while trying to escape the fire that had broken out in a building located on Chile streets in Mexico City. He was rushed to the hospital followed by severe injuries after the fall.

Conclusion

DFRAC’s fact-check confirms that the man seen in the viral video is not the British singer Liam. The video was from 2023 and depicted an incident that occurred in Mexico City.

Analysis: Misleading