MASSACRE IN VIENNA
‘Several dead and police officer seriously injured in terror attack’ by gunmen at six locations
A SUSPECTED terror attack in Vienna last night is feared to have left several people dead and a police officer seriously injured.
Austrian police said shootings were carried out at six locations by gunmen armed with assault rifles, causing numerous casualties at around 7pm.
Unconfirmed reports said seven people were feared to have died in the atrocity.
One person was arrested and another suspect was thought to have been killed, but a manhunt remained under way last night for further suspects.
Interior minister, Karl Nehammer, said: ‘At the moment I can confirm we believe this is an apparent terror attack.’
He added: ‘We believe there are several perpetrators. Unfortunately there are also several injured, probably also dead.’ All six locations were in the immediate vicinity around the city’s main synagogue. Other reports suggested at least 15 people had been injured, seven of them seriously.
It comes just four days after three people were stabbed to death in Nice, France, by a suspected terrorist.
Police in Vienna said: ‘Shots fired in the Inner City district – there are persons injured – keep away from all public places or public transport.’
One unverified video posted to social media showed a gunman carrying a large weapon, which appeared to be an assault rifle. He is seen firing several rounds down a cobbled street.
Reports suggested at least one attacker was wearing a suicide belt, but a spokesman for the interior ministry was unable to confirm or deny the claim.
Austria will enter a partial coronavirus lockdown today and bars and restaurants in the capital were packed with people enjoying a final night in its bars and restaurants.
Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister said he saw at least one person fire shots at people sitting outside bars in the street below his window.
‘They were shooting at least 100 rounds just outside our building,’ Mr Hofmeister said. ‘All these bars have tables outside. This evening is the last evening before the lockdown.’ Local reports said shots were also fired in the area of a nearby square, Schwedenplatz. Oskar Deutsch, the head of the Jewish community in Vienna, said the shooting took place near the synagogue but that it wasn’t clear whether the house of worship had been targeted.
The synagogue was already closed at the time of the shooting, Mr Deutsch tweeted. In 1981, two people were killed during an attack by two Palestinians at the same synagogue. In 1985, a Palestinian extremist group attacked Vienna airport, killing three civilians. ‘There are several injured persons,’ police tweeted about the latest attack. ‘We are on site with all available forces. Please avoid all public squares in the city.’
Dramatic footage posted on social media appeared to show a gunman exchange shots with police beside a busy road through the capital.
Vienna police urged people not to share video and photos
‘Explosive suicide belt’ ‘Fired at people sitting in bars’
via social media. ‘This jeopardises police forces as well as the civilian population,’ they said on Twitter.
Three people were stabbed to death at a church in Nice on Thursday. Tweeting a message to Austria, French President Emmanuel Macron said: ‘We, French, share the shock and sadness of the Austrians after an attack in Vienna. After France, a friendly country under attack. This is our Europe. Our enemies need to know who they are dealing with. We won’t give in to anything.’