Balkan popstar dies in Croatian car crash

ZAGREB (Reuters) - Macedonian singer Tose Proeski, one of the biggest pop stars in the Balkans, died in a car crash on a Croatian motorway early on Tuesday morning, police said.

Croatian state television reported that Proeski's jeep crashed into the protective fence on the Zagreb to Belgrade highway and slide into a ditch near Nova Gradiska, some 120 km (70 miles) east of Zagreb. He was in the passeneger seat.

Police in the town confirmed to Reuters that a 26-year old Macedonian citizen died in a car crash.

Proeski 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, and was regularly voted as one of the most popular artists in the former Yugoslav states over the last few years.