MACEDONIA: Balkan pop star Tose Proeski dies in car crash in Croatia

Hundreds of sobbing fans mourn the death of singer Tose Proeski, one of the biggest pop stars in the Balkans. Proeski was killed in a car crash in Croatia on Wednesday morning. Macedonia went into mourning on Tuesday (October 16) after the singer Tose Proeski, one of the biggest pop stars in the Balkans, was killed in a car crash on a Croatian motorway early in the morning. In the capital Skopje, thousands of sobbing fans gathered in the city's main square, lighting candles and leaving flowers, teddy bears and posters of the 26-year old singer in makeshift shrines. The government said the day of Proeski's funeral would be a day of national mourning and awarded him the title "Honourable citizen of Macedonia". It cancelled its sessions for the day, and sent a delegation to Croatia to recover his body. "He was a great man, a good person and a humanitarian. He was a world class guy", said Irena Petrevska, a hairdresser from Skopje after she lit a candle in front of Proeski's photograph. "We only realize what some things really mean to us when we lose them, and now we can see how valuable to us Toso was", Hristian Lazarevski, student from Skopje said. Croatian police said Proeski's vehicle hit the back of a truck before crashing into the protective fence on the Zagreb to Belgrade highway near Nova Gradiska, some 120 km (70 miles) east of Zagreb. He was asleep in the passenger seat. Two other people in the car were injured. Police blamed the accident on speed and possibly fatigue. Macedonian television stations interrupted their regular programmes with breaking news bulletins of the accident, then started broadcasting live pictures from the Skopje gathering. Radio stations started playing back-to-back songs from his albums and Internet forums around the Balkans were swamped with comments from shocked fans. Proeski, a classically-trained singer, started his pop career at 15, releasing his debut album at 18. His boyish good looks and passionate delivery made him a regional favorite. He had several number one hits in Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia with songs such as "Cija si" (Whose Are You) and "Ako me poglednes vo oci" (If You Look Me In The Eyes). He sang in Macedonian and Serbian, represented Macedonia in the Eurovision song contest in 2004 and was regularly voted as one of the most popular artists in the former Yugoslav states. He was also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and toured the Balkans to promote humanitarian projects.

ITN Source | October 17, 2007

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