American singer Taylor Swift said she felt “fear” and “guilt” on Wednesday after her three concerts in Vienna were cancelled following a foiled attack.
“Having our Vienna concerts cancelled was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear and a huge amount of guilt as so many people had planned to come to these concerts,” she said in a post on social media platform Instagram.
The world star’s three concerts in Vienna were cancelled in early August after police announced plans for Islamist attacks.
Police arrested three suspects and the United States said it provided Austria with intelligence that helped foil the attack.
The main suspect, aged 19, had pledged allegiance to the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) and had “made a full confession”, according to intelligence.
“I was also very grateful to the authorities, because thanks to them we mourned concerts and not lives. The love and unity I saw in the fans who came together gave me courage,” Taylor Swift added in the post on Wednesday.
The singer was due to perform in Vienna as part of her “Eras” tour, the European leg of which began in Paris in May.
After France, she visited Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Poland, each time with a notable impact on the local economy.
In Austria, more than 170,000 spectators were expected for an estimated revenue of around 100 million euros.