Taylor Swift’s three concerts in Vienna have been cancelled after government confirmation of a planned attack at the stadium, the organiser said late on Wednesday.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” Barracuda Music said in a post on Instagram, adding all tickets would be automatically refunded.
Austrian police on Wednesday detained two people suspected of plotting attacks on concerts, Franz Ruf, director general for public security said at a news conference on Wednesday evening.
A 19-year-old man was arrested an hour south of the Austrian capital on Wednesday afternoon, police said, and a search of his home revealed unnamed chemical substances. Police gave no details about the second person, except that the arrest took place on Wednesday afternoon in Vienna.
Far-right presence in Israel’s coalition fuels speculation over motive behind assaults on West Bank
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden likely to meet by year’s end despite little progress in preparatory talks
Amidst bombardments and blackouts, Kyiv’s nail salons tell a story of human endurance in wartime
Spain seeks immigration solutions amid ‘humanitarian drama’ on Canary Islands
Authorities said the 19-year-old man had been under surveillance for some time, had radicalised in recent months and, in early July, had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation.
Vienna police chief Gerhard Pürstl said the young man had been gathering information on several large events in the capital, including the Swift concerts.
Earlier on Wednesday, he said the arrests had “minimised” the concrete danger to the event and attendees, but that general security concerns remained.
Police were to step up “antiterrorism measures”, including plainclothes officers, around the sold-out concert hall.
“We will also use special forces and police dogs,” added Mr Pürstl. “We have passed on the information we have to the concert promoter.”
According to Austrian media reports, the tip-off that lead to the arrests came from a foreign security service.
The arrests come four years after a suspected Islamist attack in November 2020 that left four people dead in central Vienna.
After a four-hour manhunt, the perpetrator, a 20-year-old Austrian born man with parents from North Macedonia’s Albanian minority, was shot dead. Investigators said the man, who acted alone, was a sympathiser of Islamic State. – Additional reporting Reuters
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
