More harrowing details have emerged after Taylor Swift canceled three planned concerts in Austria due to suspected planned terror attacks.
As previously reported, the 34-year-old pop star was due to perform at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion on August 8, 9, and 10 for her worldwide Eras tour.
However, Barracuda Music - the promoter for the artist's venue - revealed on Wednesday (August 7) that the shows were canceled after police were alerted to the threat of planned attacks.
Taking to Instagram, the concert organizers shared a statement that read: "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Vienna Shows Cancelled Due to Government Officials Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack.
"With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone's safety," they said.
"All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days," they confirmed.
Authorities apprehended a 19-year-old man, and a second individual, thought to have been in contact with the suspect, was also detained.
According to the New York Times, Franz Ruf, the head of public safety in Austria, disclosed that one of the suspects was radicalized online and swore an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State.
Ruf shared at a press conference that the suspect confessed to their plans shortly after being arrested, sharing that they intended to drive a car into a group of revelers outside the venue before attacking people with machetes and knives, per the Daily Mail.
A report from Associated Press stated that investigators discovered bomb-making materials and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” at one of the suspects' homes.
Officials also added that one of the two confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue".
Furthermore, a 17-year-old who was employed by a company providing services at the Ernst Happel Stadium, where the 'Cruel Summer' songstress was scheduled to play, was also apprehended, per NY Times.
Another teenager, who police say was not an active participant in the plot, was also brought in for questioning and confirmed many points of the main suspect’s confession.
The concerts were expected to be attended by 65,000 concertgoers per day, with an additional 10,000 to 15,000 fans outside of the area, police said.
With suspects in custody, Vienna Police Chief Gerhard Pürstl said the immediate threat had been mitigated but acknowledged the persistence of an "abstract danger," as reported by BBC.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer issued a statement: "The cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria," as cited by Sky News.
"The situation surrounding the apparently planned terror attack in Vienna was very serious," he wrote, before expressing gratitude to the police, Austrian and foreign intelligence as "the threat could be recognized early on, tackled, and a tragedy prevented".
Swift has not yet commented on the cancellations.
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