Fans of Liam Payne embarked on a beautiful gesture to hide the singer’s dad from paparazzi in Argentina.
The former One Direction member died on Wednesday (October 16) at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires.
Payne had been staying with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, who returned to the UK two days before his death.
Since his tragic and unexpected passing, many in the industry have paid tribute to the singer, including Simon Cowell and Cheryl Tweedy, with whom Payne shared seven-year-old Bear with.
Cheryl wrote on Instagram: “As I try to navigate this earth-shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being.
Liam Payne died on Wednesday (October 16) (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our seven year old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”
Payne’s dad, Geoff Payne, has also been paying respects – and has been pictured at the memorial set up for the singer outside the Argentinian hotel where the tragedy happened.
Due to the shockwaves the recent news has sent across the world, a large presence of paparazzi has been since outside the hotel.
And when Geoff arrived at the CasaSur hotel on Friday (18 October), he was mobbed by paparazzi and parts of the media.
But grieving fans of Liam Payne had a plan to keep them out.
“Some girls cover up so the paparazzi can’t take pics of Liam’s dad in the hotel, I love them, I love this fandom so much,” one person posted on Twitter.
This was the best picture paparazzi got of Geoff Payne as he entered the hotel (Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)
The snap accompanying the tweet – which was taken from a news report – sees fans raising their hands in front of cameras so they can’t get a shot of Payne’s dad in the hotel.
Another person penned on Twitter: “This is what Liam Payne has earned in his life, a lot of love. Fans fighting with paps [so they] don’t take a photo [of] Liam’s dad.”
Geoff is believed to have flew from the UK to Argentina to officially identify his son in a morgue before beginning the process of organizing Payne’s body to be returned to Britain.
Local media in Argentina have stated Geoff was expected to retrieve some of Liam’s belongings.