Macedonian and Balkan pop icon Tose Proeski died Tuesday morning in a tragic car accident in Croatia. The promising singer was only 26 years old.

Official reports said the accident happened at 06:25 hrs local time. Proeski was reportedly in the car when it crashed into a lorry with Italian registration plates. The car turned upside down and hit the protective fence along the highway.

Some news reports say Tose died before medical help arrived, but other reports say he died 55 minutes after the accident after being rushed to a Nova Gradiska's hospital. Unofficial reports say Tose was sleeping at co-driver seat at time of accident.

Tose was in the car with his manager Liljana Petrovic (49) and 32-year-driver G.G. Both the driver and the passenger in the back seat survived. There is no precise information on the injuries they have sustained.

According to truck driver, Tose's Volkswagen slammed at high speed into the back of the on the Lipovac-Zagreb highway near Nova Gradiska, Western Slavonia.

With a powerful voice, singing pop and ethno music, Tose Proeski rose to stardom in Macedonia and in the Balkans. In course of his 10-yaer-long career, Proeski was very popular both for his artistic merit as well as his humanitarian work.

Not yet 27 at the time of his death, Proeski contributed to humanitarian actions and was a regional goodwill ambassador for the UN agency for children, UNICEF.

"As a modest person, my only wish is to be safe and sound, and keep up the pace which is sometimes much wearying," Proeski said in an interview published on his web site in late 2006, when asked by journalist what his expectations for the year 2007 are.