Third teenager arrested in foiled attack at Taylor Swift concert in Vienna | Austria

A third suspect has been arrested in connection with the foiled terrorist attack on Taylor Swift’s now-cancelled concerts in Vienna, Austria’s interior minister said.

The 18-year-old Iraqi is believed to be an associate of the 19-year-old prime suspect, identified as Beran A, an Austrian of North Macedonian origin.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced the latest arrest at a news conference in the Austrian capital on Friday.

Authorities believe the plot was inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda. Bomb-making materials, including chemicals and technical devices indicating “concrete preparatory acts” at an “advanced stage,” were discovered during a search of the main suspect’s home in Ternitz, south of Vienna, investigators said.

According to police, one of the suspects confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert hall.”

According to authorities, between 20,000 and 35,000 people without tickets were expected outside the Ernst Happel Stadium for each of the three concerts. Up to 65,000 people were expected inside.

The three sold-out concerts, part of Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour, were canceled Wednesday after details of the plot, which was to be carried out Thursday or Friday, authorities revealed.

The decision devastated tens of thousands of fans, many of whom had travelled to Austria from all over the world.

Impromptu gatherings of fans, known as Swifties, across the city to sing Swift songs and exchange homemade bracelets have brought comfort to many fans. Fans have been promised refunds for ticket prices, but not for hotel or travel expenses related to their trips, which in many cases have amounted to thousands of dollars.

Austrian authorities have defended the decision to cancel the concerts, despite the arrests of the suspects. Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the arrests had taken place too close to the planned concerts to allow them to go ahead.

Nehammer addressed disappointed fans directly on Thursday. “I understand very well that those who wanted to attend the concert live are very sad,” he said. “Moms and dads are taking care of their daughters and sons, who were full of enthusiasm and excitement about this concert. But it is also important that in serious times like these, safety inevitably comes first.”

The Guardian spoke to fans who expressed understanding of the decision.

Swift is scheduled to perform at Wembley in London for five consecutive nights next week, the final one on August 20, wrapping up the European leg of her tour.

Many fans who were due to attend the Vienna concerts are scrambling to get their hands on tickets for London, with prices reportedly soaring by nearly 2,000% on the resale market. There have been calls within Swift’s fan community for those with spare tickets to pass them on to those who were disappointed.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the concerts would go ahead despite concerns from many fans about their safety. “We will continue,” he said on Thursday.

Khan said authorities had adjusted their policing of shows in London based in part on what they learned from the 2017 attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, in which 22 people were killed and many more injured.

A bomb carried in a backpack by a suicide bomber exploded at the end of the concert at Manchester Arena as thousands of mainly young fans left the concert.

Less than two weeks ago, three girls were killed and 10 people injured while attending a Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop in the British town of Southport. Swift said at the time she was “completely shocked” by the attack.

So far, the singer has not responded to the terrorist plot in Austria.

The main suspect told authorities that he began planning the attack last month, posting an online pledge of allegiance to the current leader of ISIS two days before the planned attack. Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of Austria’s Security and Intelligence Directorate, said the 19-year-old had “clearly radicalized toward the Islamic State and considered it normal to kill infidels.”

He intended to “carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible” by driving into the crowd with a car before using knives, machetes and improvised explosive devices, Haijawi-Pirchner said.

He had recently quit his job at a steelworks, telling colleagues he “still had big plans.”

Authorities said he offered no resistance when anti-terrorism police came to arrest him at his family home on Wednesday. His parents were on holiday, according to Austrian media.

The second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian of Turkish-Croatian descent, has so far refused to talk. But authorities said they found documents related to ISIS and al-Qaeda at his home. The teenager was employed by a facilities management company that provided unspecified services at the concert venue. He had recently broken up with his girlfriend, Haijawi-Pirchner said.

The first two suspects are being held in a prison in the industrial town of Wiener Neustadt, 50 km south of Vienna, after prosecutors requested that the teenagers be remanded in custody.

Another suspect, a 15-year-old Austrian boy of Turkish origin, is being questioned by police. The extent to which the suspects were part of a network, and if so, how large it was, has not been made public.

It appears that information about the attack came from US intelligence services, who informed their Austrian counterparts.