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(AP/KSL News) -- The Cox Arena in San Diego was temporarily evacuated Thursday after bomb-sniffing dogs found a suspicious package.
That's where Utah State University is scheduled to play tonight, as part of the NCAA tournament.
A suspicious package was found about two hours before tipoff of the first-round NCAA men's tournament game between Alabama and Marquette.
The dogs detected the package inside a 4-by-6-inch condiment container in a vendor cart outside Cox Arena at San Diego State University. A bomb robot was sent to the scene, FBI spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said.
The container was removed by police and a bomb squad, said Lorena Nava, a university spokeswoman.
The all-clear was given about two hours later and fans were to be allowed in once security staff took their posts inside the arena, university spokesman Jack Beresford said.
Fans and officials were originally told to gather behind a parking structure across the street.
The FBI warned last week of a recent Internet posting discussing terrorists attacks aimed at college basketball arenas and other sports stadiums, but also said there were no specific or credible threats.
Authorities were alerted at 9:18 a.m., before the scheduled 10 a.m. opening of the arena, and evacuated a "handful" of vendors who were inside, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
"It was some type of package that was described as looking like a small briefcase or a box," Luque said.
Hundreds of Alabama and Marquette fans milled around in parking lots waiting for information. Some were not aware a suspicious package was found.
Our KSL News team is in San Diego. They say Utah State University players, coaches and boosters were not at the arena at the time.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
