American songbird Taylor Swift had no choice but to cancel all of her planned concerts in Austria after reports about a major terrorist threat surfaced within the capital of Vienna forcing authorities to take drastic action.
Taylor Swift was scheduled to perform in Vienna this week at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as part of her Eras Tour but all went to hell after event organisers were alerted about a terror plot that was expected to happen at a public event within the Austrian capital.
Event organiser Barracuda Music said in a post on Instagram late on Wednesday that “we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety”, citing government officials’ “confirmation” of a planned attack at the stadium.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said “A tragedy was averted”, in a post on X. “Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated and a tragedy averted,” Nehammer wrote. DSN is Austria’s Directorate for Security and Intelligence.
Barracuda Music said all tickets would be refunded in due time once the situation has calmed down.
The Austrian authorities detained two people suspected of plotting attacks on concerts, Franz Ruf, director general for public security, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“During our investigations, we identified preparatory actions and noted that the 19-year-old suspect had a particular focus on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” Ruf said, adding that the suspect, an Austrian citizen, had pledged allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group. Another suspect was later arrested in Vienna.
Taylor Swift fans survive deadly terror plot in Vienna
Austrian authorities on Friday announced a third arrest in connection with the foiled conspiracy to attack three now-cancelled Taylor Swift concerts, even as disappointed fans charmed Vienna by trading friendship bracelets and singing the pop star’s songs in the streets.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old, planned to target onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,” authorities said.
He was taken into custody on Tuesday, along with a 17-year-old, officials said. Both are Austrian citizens. The third suspect, an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen, was arrested Thursday evening, the interior minister said at an unrelated news conference Friday.
Swift is still set to travel to London’s Wembley Stadium for five concerts between August 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour. How this will impact her tour and fans is yet to be seen given her popularity in the entertainment sphere and how booked out her concerts can be.
Swift and her events management company might decide to reschedule the concerts for another time or probably call it off completely depending on the threat level. However, with Barracuda Music already planning to refund all tickets, the concerts might never happen. Only time will tell.
Swift, 34, has not yet commented on the cancellations on her official Instagram account which has 283 million followers.
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