The Vienna leg of the tour by American mega-star Taylor Swift has been cancelled after Austrian police arrested a man in connection with an Islamist attack plot, the organisers said Wednesday.

“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,” Barracuda Music said on Instagram.

Austrian authorities said on Wednesday they have arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an Islamist attack in connection with concerts by US star Taylor Swift later this week.

He was detained in Lower Austria, about an hour from the capital earlier on Wednesday.

Chemical substances, allegedly to be used in explosives devices, were seized in his house and were being analysed, the police said.

The man, who had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group “in recent weeks”, was detained early on Wednesday, Austria’s top security chief Franz Ruf told a press conference.

“We have established corresponding preparatory acts and also that the focus of the 19-year-old perpetrator was on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” Ruf said.

A second person believed to have been in contact with the suspect was arrested in Vienna.

According to initial investigation findings, both suspects radicalised themselves on the internet.

About 65,000 spectators were expected at each show scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Organisers said all would-be concert-goers would have their tickets refunded.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna

In November 2020, a convicted IS sympathiser went on a shooting rampage in downtown Vienna, killing four and wounding 23 others before police shot him dead.

It marked the Alpine nation’s first deadly jihadist attack.

With reporting by AFP