VIENNA — Organizers of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week called them off on Wednesday after officials announced arrests over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a Vienna-area event like the concerts.
Swift was due to play the Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as part of her Eras Tour.
Event organizer Barracuda Music said in a post on its Instagram channel late Wednesday that “we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.” It cited government officials’ “confirmation” of a planned attack on the stadium.
Earlier Wednesday, authorities said they had arrested two suspected extremists, one of whom appeared to be planning an attack on an event in the Vienna area such as the upcoming concerts.
The 19-year-old main suspect was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, and the second person in the Austrian capital.
Franz Ruf, director of public security at the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, said authorities were aware of “preparatory actions” for a possible attack “and also that the 19-year-old perpetrator is focusing on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna ‘. This is reported by the Austrian press agency.
Ruf said the 19-year-old had taken an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The Austrian citizen is said to have been radicalized on the internet. Ruf said chemicals had been secured and were being evaluated. He did not provide further details.
The cancellation came hours after authorities said security measures would be stepped up for the Swift concerts. Ruf said that, among other things, special attention would be paid to access controls and that concertgoers should plan a little more time.
Viennese police chief Gerhard Pürstl said at the same time that while any concrete danger had been minimized, an abstract risk justified an increase in security.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said after the cancellation that the country’s police and intelligence service had “contributed everything to ensure safe events” and that the organizer had made the decision to cancel the concerts, APA reported. He said there were “close networks with foreign security authorities.”
Barracuda Music said that “all tickets will be automatically refunded within the next ten business days.” The same wording was posted under the Vienna dates on Swift’s official website.
The Vienna stadium was sold out for the planned concerts, APA reported, and an estimated 170,000 fans were expected for the concerts in Austria.
Swift fans took to social media to express their devastation at missing one of the superstar’s shows. Some posting on social network
In 2017, an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi planted a knapsack bomb at the Manchester Arena at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving. More than 100 people were injured. Abedi died in the explosion.
An official investigation found last year that Britain’s domestic intelligence service, MI5, did not act quickly enough on key information and missed a key opportunity to prevent the bombing, the deadliest extremist attack in Britain in recent years.
