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 an event in the Vienna area such as the concerts.
Swift was scheduled to play at the Austrian capital鈥檚 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 鈥渨e have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone鈥檚 safety.鈥� It cited government officials鈥� 鈥渃onfirmation鈥� of a planned attack at 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, the public security director at Austria鈥檚 interior ministry, said authorities were aware of 鈥減reparatory actions鈥� for a possible attack 鈥渁nd also that there is a focus by the 19-year-old perpetrator on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,鈥� the Austria Press Agency reported.
Ruf said the 19-year-old had pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The Austrian citizen is believed to have become radicalized on the internet. Ruf said that chemical substances were secured and were being evaluated. He didn鈥檛 give more details.
The cancelation came hours after authorities said security measures for the Swift concerts would be stepped up. Ruf said that there would be a special focus among other things on entry checks and concertgoers should plan a bit more time.
Vienna police chief Gerhard P眉rstl said at the same time that, while any concrete danger had been minimized, an abstract risk justified raising security.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on social network X that 鈥渢he cancelation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria.鈥�
鈥淭he situation surrounding the apparently planned terror attack in Vienna was very serious,鈥� he wrote. But he added that, thanks to intensive cooperation between police, Austrian and foreign intelligence, 鈥渢he threat could be recognized early on, tackled and a tragedy prevented.鈥�
Barracuda Music said that 鈥渁ll tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.鈥� The same wording was posted under the Vienna dates on Swift鈥檚 official website.
The Vienna stadium had been sold out for the planned concerts, APA reported, with an estimated 170,000 fans expected for the concerts in Austria.
Swift fans took to social media to express their devastation at missing out on one of the superstar鈥檚 shows. Some who posted on X lamented months of now-wasted efforts to make friendship bracelets and pick out fashionable outfits for the performance.
Annmarie Timmins, a journalist who traveled from the U.S. for Thursday鈥檚 show, said she and her husband were waiting for the subway after dinner when they heard the news.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 even believe it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was a girl with her mom who looked so sad - even more than me. I gave her one of my bracelets. I wanted to hug her.鈥�
In 2017, an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England killed 22 people. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi set up a knapsack bomb in Manchester Arena at the end of Grande鈥檚 concert as thousands of young fans were leaving. More than 100 people were injured. Abedi died in the explosion.
An official inquiry reported last year that Britain鈥檚 domestic intelligence agency, MI5, didn鈥檛 act swiftly enough on key information and missed a significant opportunity to prevent the bombing, the deadliest extremist attack in the U.K. in recent years.
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The Associated Press
