CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A Muslim leader who worked to improve understanding of his religion in the Corvallis area has been killed in a traffic accident.

Awad Mohamed Elgarguri was heading home early Friday morning after a prayer session at a Corvallis mosque when a pickup truck crossed the center line and struck his car.

Oregon State Police say the 49-year-old Elgaguri died at the scene of the crash on Highway 99W. His 16-year-old son was recovering at a hospital and the pickup driver suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

A longtime friend said Elgaguri was the imam for the mosque for the past 15 years and had worked to build bridges between people of different faiths.