Austrian authorities have reported that Three teenagers suspected of planning an attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna were arrested on Wednesdaya threat that led the organizers to cancel three performances by the singer.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, has been arrested in the town of Ternitz, some 50 kilometres from Vienna, according to the head of the State Security and Intelligence Directorate, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
Haijawi-Pirchner has stated in a press conference this Thursday what The suspect was planning a suicide attack with knives and explosives that would kill “as many people as possible” at the concert.
Authorities have also reported that They found explosives, detonators and chemical substances in the home of the 19-year-old and that he had been researching techniques for making bombs..
The young man “had clearly been radicalized” by the Islamic State and had published a pledge of loyalty to its leader, Haijawi-Pirchner said.
He is cooperating with authorities and has fully confessed to his role in the plot, Haijawi-Pirchner added.
Franz Ruf, director general of public security at the Ministry of the Interior, said the suspect had been planning the attack since July and had roots going back to North Macedonia.
The other two teenagers arrested were one aged 15 and the other 17. The 17-year-old refused to speak to the authorities, who found propaganda for the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in his home.
The Austrian citizen, of Turkish and Croatian descent, worked for a facility company contracted to provide services at the concert site. The authorities have not specified what services were involved.
Authorities say he had just broken up with his girlfriend and was arrested outside the concert venue.
Neither the 19-year-old nor the 17-year-old had tickets to attend, authorities have revealed.
Little information has been released about the 15-year-old, who authorities say has also been questioned by police.
Ruf has stated that the three suspects were in contact with other people who knew about the planned attack, but that Authorities are not looking for any other suspects..
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said international intelligence agencies had helped uncover the plot, prompting concert organisers to cancel Wednesday’s Eras Tour events.
Some fans They had already arrived from other continents for the planned concerts for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Instead of celebrating the concert, dozens of fans gathered near the venue on Thursday to sing along to Swift’s songs as police looked on.
Ewald Tatar, director of the concert organizing company Barracuda Music, has said at a press conference that the concerts have been cancelled for safety reasons for those attending and those outside the stadium.
Tatar had expected a crowd of up to 15,000 in the hours leading up to the concerts, which would rise to nearly 100,000 people inside and outside the stadium before Swift took the stage.
“I have to say that, despite everything, I am very happy with this decision,” Tatar told reporters, adding that management had made the “right” decision.
Barracuda Music has announced that all tickets will be refunded within 10 days.
Europe has been on high alert for ISIS-related attacks at pop music concerts, after the group carried out several mass attacks, including one in Manchester in 2017in which 22 people died at an Ariana Grande concert.
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