UT-Austin, North Dakota State University evacuated after bomb threats

By Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News

Two big universities -- University of Texas at Austin and North Dakota State University in Fargo -- evacuated all of their buildings early Friday after receiving bomb threats.

 "Evacuation due to threats on campus. Immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible. More information to come," a message from 10:11 a.m. local time on the University of Texas's emergency webpage read.

The University of Texas' evacuation was prompted by a call at around 8:35 a.m. from a male with a Middle Eastern accent claiming to have placed bombs all over campus, Director of Communications Rhonda Weldon told NBC affiliate KXAN.com. He claimed to be with al-Qaida and said bombs would go off in 90 minutes. Buildings were being evacuated out of an abundance of caution, the station reported.

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Meanwhile, in Fargo, North Dakota State students and employees were ordered to leave their campus by 10:15 a.m. after the school received the threat, ValleyNewsLive.com reported.The university said via its Twitter account that buildings were being "checked/cleared," and then later tweeted, "Time specified in phone threat has passed but we have not yet cleared all buildings. Decision to resume operations & classes will come shortly."

 It was unclear if there was a connection between the two bomb threats.

The University of Texas, one of the largest public universities in the U.S., has more than 50,000 students. NDSU has more than 14,000 students.

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