Springfield Man Dies of Alcohol Poisoning at Va. Tech

Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown says Thomas Ryan Hauser, 23, of Springfield was found by roommates in his off-campus apartment Sunday morning.

Hauser, an engineering student, and some friends had been barhopping, drinking beer and liquor from about 9 p.m. Saturday until about 2 a.m. Sunday, Brown says.

The friends carried Hauser back from a bar and put him on his right side on the living room floor to let him sleep it off.

Hauser's roommates thought he was still sleeping it off when they found him on the floor the next morning, but he had died during the early morning hours, Black says.

Brown says two other college students were hospitalized over the weekend for alcohol poisoning, but both recovered.

Virginia Tech officials say the last alcohol poisoning death at the school was in 1996.

The National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse reports that 1,400 college students ages 18 to 24 die each year from alcohol-related accidental injuries, including car crashes. More than 500,000 college students are injured each year while under the influence of alcohol, the group says.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)