A week after the death of Liam Payne, Manchester fans are still coming together to pay their respects.
Fans are gathering at the memorial in the city’s Cathedral Gardens, leaving flowers, letters, and balloons dedicated to the One Direction star.
Tributes to Payne have flooded in from every corner of the world, after he died falling from a third floor balcony at hotel CasaSur in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 16 October.
The Manchester memorial has a sombre atmosphere, with fans of all ages there to remember the songwriter who they looked up to so deeply – many still struggling to process the tragic news.
One 17-year-old girl, from Manchester, said: “I’m a big fan of One Direction and it didn’t feel real.
“Now it does.”
Another – also 17 – said: “I didn’t know how to feel, it just didn’t register in my mind.
“I just wanted to pay my respects.
“I have been a huge fan for years, and I didn’t want it to get taken away [the memorial] before I could come and see it.
“They were a big part of my childhood and they still are now as solo artists.”
People had left poignant letters to the former boyband member, wishing that the “world had been kinder” to him.
Payne had been visiting Argentina with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, 25.
The pair had attended Niall Horan’s concert, who was performing at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires on 2 October.
Payne stayed in the South American city for two weeks following the show, but Cassidy travelled back to their Florida mansion just two days before he passed.
He was just 14 years old when he broke into the music industry, and campaigners are now calling for better protection for young music stars.
