Three concert dates in Vienna, Austria, for Taylor Swift’s massive Eras Tour have been canceled after two suspects were arrested in an alleged terrorist plot.
Barracuda Music, the event organizer for the Austria leg of Swift’s tour, confirmed in a social media post Wednesday that the concerts were “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,” the post continued. “All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.”
Swift was originally scheduled to perform at Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week.
Authorities said they arrested “two suspected extremists, one of whom appeared to be planning an attack on an event in the Vienna area such as the upcoming concerts,” The Associated Press reported.
One of the suspects is a 19-year-old who was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, while the other suspect was arrested in Vienna.
“The two suspects became radicalized by the internet, a 19-year-old citizen of Lower Austria made an oath of allegiance to the current leader of IS at the beginning of July,” Austrian police said in a press conference Wednesday.
Franz Ruf, public security director of Austria’s interior ministry, said authorities were aware of “preparatory actions” for a possible attack and that “chemical substances” were found in a search of the 19-year-old’s home.
“From the current standpoint of the investigation we assume that the target of the attack were events in the Vienna region,” the police said Wednesday.
Prior to the cancellation, 65,000 fans were expected per day to attend the concert, with an additional 22,000 fans expected outside the stadium, BBC reported.