Monks wounded in robbery at Vienna church: police

Two suspects fled the scene after ambushing the church in the northern suburb of Floridsdorf at around 1:30 pm (1230 GMT), tying the monks up and holding them for a number of hours, police said in a statement.

The victims were found by officers at 4:17 pm, they said.

"As far as we know so far, at least one of the suspects demanded cash and valuables. The exact motive is not yet known. But we are ruling out a possible terrorist motive," the police said, adding that a large-scale manhunt has been launched to find the suspects.

In a separate incident earlier on Thursday, Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral was evacuated following a bomb alarm, but re-opened about an hour later after no explosives were found.