Train station paralyzed

The bomb threat’s email said “Allahu akbar”

The Linz train station was paralyzed. Now the state security service is investigating a terrorist organization and land coercion.

(Bild: Kerschbaummayr)

Linz railroad station was in a state of emergency on Tuesday after a bomb threat. Now the state security service is investigating a terrorist organization and forced entry into the country - because the email to the provincial police headquarters contained "Allahu akbar", an Islamist battle cry that assassins like to shout when they want to massacre innocent people.

"Allahu akbar" means "God is great beyond measure" in Arabic. This Muslim phrase was one of the words in the bomb threat that arrived by e-mail at the provincial police headquarters in Linz at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. From 3.30 to 5.30 p.m., Linz Central Station was, as reported, completely closed and meticulously searched.

The State Office for State Protection and Counter-Extremism (LSE) is now investigating on suspicion of a terrorist organization and coercion. Terrorist association is punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment under Section 278b of the German Criminal Code, while coercion to land is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment.

60 trains at a standstill
"Around 60 local, long-distance and freight trains were affected by the closure of Linz Central Station due to the bomb threat. They were put on hold in St. Valentin, Wels, Linz-Ebelsberg and Pichling," says Klaus Baumgartner, ÖBB press spokesman for Upper Austria.

100 buses and streetcars were canceled
The lines in Linz were also severely affected: "In total, around 100 streetcars, buses and trolleybuses were unable to run in the cordoned-off area. Most of these affected lines 1 and 2, with more than 30 unfeasible journeys each," says spokeswoman Susanne Gillhofer.

But the taxi drivers were under stress
It was also stressful for the cab companies, as Thomas Rosenauer from "Taxi 6969" reports: "We have 185 cars in Linz. We had a very good occupancy rate for an hour. However, many callers didn't know exactly which stop they were at."

Krone-Kommentar

Dicke Hose und fette Bässe

Some people thought it was really cool what was going on at Linz station on Wednesday. My colleague Anna showed me what was posted about this incident on the video platform TikTok. Accompanied by belligerent rap songs, the bomb threat was celebrated as an "event". Well.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

As far as the threat is concerned, however, there is really only one question: stupid, evil or both? The assumption is that the emptiness between the two ears is to be compensated for by thick trousers. We can only hope that the police will track down the culprit.