VIENNA (Agencies): The organizers of US singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna have decided to cancel the show due to a persisting terrorist threat, Austrian Federal Minister for the Interior Gerhard Karner said on Thursday, adding that the situation remains serious.
The Austrian Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that a 19-year-old Austrian national, suspected of planning a terrorist attack during a major event in Vienna, had been detained in the city of Ternitz. The police carried out more arrests later on Wednesday as part of investigation into the case.
The situation was and remains serious due to the terrorist threat, he added.
The 19-year-old suspect has pleaded guilty, representatives of the Austrian Interior Ministry and the state intelligence department told reporters, adding that the detainee intended to attack people outside the stadium and commit suicide.
The suspect planned to murder people outside the stadium using piercing and cutting weapons and was assembling a bomb in Ternitz. He reportedly intended to drive into the crowd of Swift’s fans near the stadium.
The second detainee in this case was a 17-year-old teenager who worked for a company that was supposed to provide services at the stadium hosting Swift’s shows. The law enforcement forces have seized materials related to the Islamic State* and al-Qaeda* terrorist groups from the teenager, Director of State Security and Intelligence Omar Haijawi-Pirchner said.