Austria said on Friday it had detained a third alleged Islamic State supporter in connection with a plot to carry out a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.
The Vienna leg of the music icon’s blockbuster “Eras” tour has been canceled after police on Wednesday arrested two suspects, aged 19 and 17, who were accused of plotting to kill “a large number of people” at one of three concerts this week, according to authorities.
On Friday, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that “an 18-year-old Iraqi close to the main suspect and who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group was arrested in the Austrian capital on Thursday.”
The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian man of North Macedonian origin, has reportedly confessed that he “intended to carry out the attack using explosives and knives,” Omar Hajavi-Pirchner, head of the domestic intelligence agency (DSN), told reporters.
Hajavi-Pirchner said the second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian of Turkish and Croatian descent, was hired by a facilities management company to “provide services” at the Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift was scheduled to perform.
Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer said there were “concrete and detailed” plans to “cause a bloodbath”.
According to news agency APA, the Austrian military’s intelligence service was warned of the impending attack 10 to 15 days in advance by two unnamed countries, helping to foil the plot.
Swift was scheduled to perform three shows in Vienna from Thursday through Saturday as part of her mega record-breaking “Eras” tour.
The European leg of the sold-out tour began in Paris in May and took in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Poland.
According to APA estimates, the shows in Austria were expected to generate revenue of around 100 million euros and attract 170,000 fans.
Swift has yet to comment on the decision to cancel the Vienna show, but she said she was in “complete shock” following the deadly attack at a Swift-themed dance class in the UK on July 29.
Three girls were killed and five people were seriously injured in a mass stabbing in a classroom in Southport, England.
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