Teenagers plan ‘massive’ attack at Vienna concert

Security officials in Austria say a 19-year-old boy arrested on Wednesday was planning to kill “a large number of people” in a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.

Officials say the teenager – who once pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group – admitted he “intended an attack using explosives and knives”.

Swift’s three sold-out performances at Ernst Happel Stadium are cancelled. More than 195,000 people were expected.

The local media also reported that the 19-year-old suspect, who is the main suspect of the three, stole chemicals from the place where he worked.

The Kurier newspaper, quoting sources, reported that he was working at a metal manufacturing company in his hometown of Ternitz, and that he had made great progress in building a bomb.

The citizen also reported that he had planned to drive a car into the crowd that was expected to gather outside the stadium.

Security officials at a press conference on Thursday did not comment on where they got the chemicals, but public security chief Franz Ruf told reporters that chemicals and technical equipment found in the main suspect’s home showed “concrete preparation activities”.

The head of the Directorate for Protection of the State and Intelligence (DSN) in Austria, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, said that weapons were taken from the main suspect’s house, and that “his intention was to kill himself and a large number of people today or tomorrow at the concert”.

Mr Ruf added that the teenager posted a video online admitting to the plot, quit his job at the end of last month and told people he had “big plans”.

They also revealed that the main suspect – an Austrian citizen with North Macedonian roots – had recently changed his appearance “to adapt it to Islamic State propaganda”, and had been eating and sharing Islamist propaganda online.

The second suspect – a 17-year-old Austrian of Turkish or Croatian origin – was employed by a company that would “provide jobs” at the stadium where Swift was to perform.

The 15-year-old has so far refused to speak to authorities, and was “in the area” of the stadium when he was arrested.

Officials added that they are not looking for other suspects.

In the press conference there was also the Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner who said that “a disaster was avoided”, and the attack was completed with the help of international intelligence as the Austrian law does not allow the processing of the requests of the delegates.

“The threat of terrorism has increased across Europe and in Austria it was not the same,” he said, adding that large concerts “are often a favorite of Islamic attackers”.

Coldplay are set to perform seven concerts in Vienna starting August 21st as part of their Spheres World Tour.

Mr Haijawi-Pirchner said there was no information suggesting a specific threat to the upcoming events in Austria, but security measures remained high.

Swift’s Vienna concerts were part of the European leg of her Eras Tour, which kicked off in Paris in May.

The tour has stopped in many countries including Sweden, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Poland.

Swift will head to London to play five shows at Wembley Stadium next week.

UK police minister Diana Johnson said Scotland Yard would look into intelligence ahead of the Wembley Stadium dates.

The Mayor of London, Sadig Khan, told Sky News that the city would “move on” and that the police would work with City Hall and councils to ensure the concerts took place safely.