The large bilingual convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium ended without incident on Sunday. Security measures had been heightened following the detonation of two explosives on the cars of members of the religious community the day before. The connections are still unclear. There had been no threatening letters or phone calls before, says a spokesperson for the religious community.
The meeting of the faith community recognized in Austria at the stadium went “smoothly and in absolute calm”. In any case, in recent years there has been more attention to safety measures and now people are even more aware. In addition, the incident in Styria meant that the municipality concerned had “come closer together” with neighboring municipalities. After the blast, they provided pastoral care to those affected.
Also congress in Graz without incident
Shortly before the incident, the Jehovah’s Witnesses held a convention in Graz, where there were no incidents either. The conclusion of this year’s congress series in Austria under the motto “Exercise patience” will take place from 25 to 27 August in the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck. There, too, security measures would now be increased.
An unidentified person set the explosives while the owners of the vehicle attended a prayer meeting organized by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. No one was injured. Whether there is a connection with the religious community is still being investigated. The National Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism (LVT) has set up its own investigation team.
“Bombs could have done more damage”
According to police spokesman Markus Lamb, a relatively large number of parts of the explosives have been secured. The individual parts must now be reassembled as far as possible for a reconstruction. It’s now clear they “weren’t 0815 explosives or simple fireworks,” Lamb said, “They could have done more damage than they ended up doing.”
It is still being analyzed as to why they apparently have not developed their full explosive potential. Two variants are conceivable: either the perpetrator(s) deliberately did not want to cause more damage and only used it to “scare people”, or an error was made in the construction of the explosives, so that the explosions were weaker. In any case, the remains would now be thoroughly analyzed.
Motive still unclear
According to Lamb, the motive is still unclear. Therefore, environmental studies would now be carried out. Members of Jehovah’s Witnesses are also interviewed, as are neighbors. Investigators are still hoping for possible eyewitnesses who saw suspects at the gravel parking lot of a car dealership near the Kingdom Hall where the prayers were held. The car park is bordered on one side by noise barriers from the railway and on the other side by a hedge and is therefore relatively private. The two vehicles on which the explosives were installed were parked with their backs to the hedge, allowing the perpetrator or perpetrators to carry out the installation undetected.
Source: Krone
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