THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610260273
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 41 lines
Oguz Emre Buruk's dream of a degree in electrical engineering ended tragically Friday morning when a man suspected of driving drunk slammed into the car Buruk was driving.
Buruk, an Old Dominion University student from Turkey, died shortly after midnight at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. He was 20.
News of his death shocked students and faculty at ODU. Scott King, director of international student and scholar services at the school, described Buruk as a hard-working student and a ``very quiet, sweet young man.''
``It's just very hard when it's someone from another country,'' King said.
Norfolk police spokesman Larry Hill said the collision occurred at 12:42 a.m. Buruk was fatally injured when a 1993 Honda being driven by Roddrick L. McNeal crashed into his car at the intersection of Hampton Boulevard and Baker Street.
McNeal was traveling north in the left turn lane on Hampton Boulevard. He was making the turn when he hit the 1989 Mazda two-door being driven by Buruk, Hill said. McNeal was not injured.
Buruk, of the 1000 block of Rockbridge Ave., was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Mazda was a total loss. The Honda sustained about $2,500 in damage.
McNeal, a 23-year-old Navy man assigned to the oiler Arctic, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
This was Buruk's third semester at ODU. He came to the university after graduating from Parkville High School in Towson, Md., where an uncle lives. He traveled to the United States just before his senior year in high school.
Word of the tragedy drifted across the campus Friday.
``It's just sinking in,'' King said.
ODU has about 800 international students, about 50 of them from Turkey. Today they plan to celebrate Turkish National Day in Webb Center.
King said Buruk's family had been notified.
``This is very hard for them to understand why this happens,'' King said. ``If you send your child over to another country you expect them to be safe.''
KEYWORDS: DRUNKEN DRIVING ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY by CNB