Bomb Threat Prompts North Dakota State University Campus Evacuation

A bomb threat prompted North Dakota State University to order an evacuation of its Fargo, N.D., campus Friday as a similar threat spurred an evacuation order at the University of Texas, Austin.

Students received an emergency message from North Dakota State University urging pupils and employees of the school to evacuate by 10:15 a.m. EST, according to valleynewslive.com.

According to the website, the message read:

"This is an emergency message from North Dakota State University.

NDSU is requiring 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. This also includes the downtown buildings and agricultural facilities.

NDSU received a bomb threat, prompting this evacuation. Updates will follow.

Do not call local emergency numbers for further information in order to permit emergency lines to remain open for emergency calls. Updates to this announcement will be made when information becomes available. This message is authorized and transmitted by the University Police Communications Call Center."

The North Dakota State University website was down as of noon EST.

A bomb threat was also called in to the University of Texas by a man claiming to be aligned with al-Qaeda.

The man had a Middle Eastern accent and called UT around 8:35 a.m., according to the Associated Press. An evacuation of University of Texas buildings began at 9:50 a.m., although no bombs had been found as of 11:40 a.m.

It is unclear whether the North Dakota University and University of Texas bomb threats, which occurred around the same time, were related.