AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas in Austin called for an evacuation of all campus buildings after a bomb threat on Friday morning.
University of Texas director of communications Rhonda Weldon says the university received a call about 8:35 a.m. from a man with a Middle Eastern accent claiming to be with al-Qaida. The man said he had placed bombs all over the campus that would go off in 90 minutes.
The University announced on their Twitter account just before noon that Friday's classes are canceled. Campus activities, however, will resume at 5 p.m. and buildings may be reentered at noon.
An alert was originally sent out on UT's website and Twitter at 9:53 a.m., telling students and faculty to "immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible."
UT then released this official statement to the media:
"At 8:35 a.m. the university received a call from a male with a middle eastern accent claiming to have placed bombs all over campus. He said he was with Al Qaeda and these bombs would go off in 90 minutes. President Powers was notified and it was decided to evacuate all of the buildings out of an abundance of caution."
North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., also ordered a campus evacuation Friday morning. But it was unclear whether the two evacuations were related.
Police at University of Texas at San Antonio said they have not received any threats.
