HOUSTON, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two U.S. universities on Friday morning required all employees and students to leave campus after receiving separate bomb threats.
The North Dakota State University in Fargo posted a statement on its website and sent an emergency message to students at around 9:50 a.m. local time Friday, ordering all employees and students to leave campus by 10:15 a.m..
"This includes residence hall students, who, if necessary, should walk to locations off campus," said the statement. "This also includes the downtown buildings and agricultural facilities."
The statement said that a bomb threat prompted the evacuation order, but gave no further details. More than 14,000 students are enrolled at the university.
Meanwhile, the University of Texas at Austin also ordered an evacuation at around 10:00 a.m. Friday after a man claiming to be affiliated with al-Qaeda called in a bomb threat, according to a message sent to students by university officials.
"Immediately evacuate all buildings and get as far away as possible. More information to come," said an alert posted online and sent to students by the university.
"We received a bomb threat this morning from a man claiming to be part of al-Qaeda," said Gary Susswein, a spokesman for the university.
A warning call came in shortly after 8:30 a.m., with a man saying there were bombs on campus that would go off within 90 minutes, ABC News cited local police as saying.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we're evacuating all buildings, making sure all buildings are secure," the university spokesman added.
It is not immediately known if the two bomb threats are related.
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