This video from 2023 shows a man trying to escape from his burning apartment in Mexico.
British singer Liam Payne died at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16. Payne was part of the globally popular five-member boy band One Direction.
As tributes poured in, a video allegedly showing the singer falling off the hotel balcony went viral on social media. In it, a man could be seen holding onto a window and subsequently falling to the ground. Sharing the clip on Instagram, one person wrote, “Breaking: Liam Payne reportedly falling from a balcony in Argentina and died.”
Reverse searching keyframes from the viral video led us to several media reports from 2023. Reportedly, this incident took place on September 13, 2023, at 58 Repºblica de Cuba Street in the Centro neighbourhood of Mexico City, Mexico. A man reportedly fell from his bedroom window, trying to save his life after a fire broke out in his flat.
In the video, smoke can be seen coming out of the window as the man falls. Firefighters and paramedics reportedly arrived at the scene soon after and took him to the Balbuena General Hospital.
Some reports noted that the name of this man was Vincent Estal Carabias and that he died the same day in the hospital, succumbing to burns and fractures. The 24-year-old man was reportedly from Chiapas state in Mexico. We also found more videos of the incident, shot from different angles in X posts from that time.
It is thus, more than clear that a 2023 video from Mexico was falsely shared as footage of Liam Payne falling to his death.