By Jasper Craven, Peter Schworm, Eric Moskowitz and John R. Ellement / Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff / December 16, 2013
CAMBRIDGE—Four buildings at Harvard University have been evacuated and police from five different agencies are on the Cambridge campus, some of them with bomb-sniffing dogs, to investigate “unconfirmed reports’’ that explosives had been hidden in the buildings.
No detonations of explosives have been reported.
In a statement posted at 9:33 a.m. to its emergency alert site, the university said four buildings—the Science Center, Thayer, Sever and Emerson halls—were ordered evacuated in response to the i
nformation received by police.
“HUPD and Cambridge Police are on the scene,’’ the university said in the statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, the buildings have been evacuated while the report is investigated. Harvard’s focus is on the safety of our students, faculty and staff.’’
Ben Forman, an employee at the Harvard Book Store on Massachusetts Avenue, said the atmosphere around Harvard’s campus was not too panicked this morning as police swept through the yard.
“It looks pretty relaxed out there actually,” he said. “There is a gate closed into the yard, but its not panicked.”
Forman said police had not contacted the bookstore with news of further evacuations along Massachusetts Avenue.
Bomb squad officers from the State, Cambridge, Harvard University, Boston and Transit Police departments are on campus this morning, searching buildings for signs of explosives, officials said.
According to the school’s academic calendar, final exams are scheduled for this week at the undergraduate programs at the Cambridge campus.
Jasper Craven can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Jasper_Craven
Peter Schworm can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @globepete.
© Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.
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