Goran Maksimovic, 26, Dies in Car Crash Near Sabac

Folk singer Goran Maksimovic (26) died on the night of September 22 in a car crash near Sabac, only hours after stepping off the stage at the Sabac Fair.

The crash happened around 6:20 a.m. in the village of Slatina, in the Sabac municipality. The car left the road at high speed and was almost completely destroyed. Four people were inside: Maksimovic, his wife, and two bandmates. Passersby pulled one of the passengers from the wreckage and gave first aid before emergency crews arrived.

Only the evening before, Maksimovic had performed with his band Tika Taka at the Sabac Fair. According to reports, he celebrated with his wife and friends under a tent until the early hours of the morning. He posted his last photo about an hour after midnight, just hours before he died.

The first to comment on the tragedy for Telegraf was Goran’s closest collaborator, accordionist Nikola.

I don’t know anything, I’m in shock. I don’t know where his wife is, there were apparently four of them in the car, I think they’re all in the hospital now.

Nikola said, visibly shaken, at a point when the exact condition of the other passengers was still unknown.

Bandmate Milovan kept his comment to the same outlet short.

We have all the information and we’re not in the mood to talk. He was the best of all of us, that’s all I have to say.

Singer Atina Ferari, who had spent the previous evening with Maksimovic and his wife, also said goodbye to him on Instagram.

Can this really be true, what I just read? Goran, my friend, is this really going to be our last picture together? And you and your wife were in such good spirits last night. Rest with the angels! It shouldn’t have ended like this.

She wrote on her Instagram account.

Maksimovic was known for keeping alive the traditional folk sound of the Krajina region. He wrote the music for the song “Namigni de garavuso,” set to lyrics by the late Lazo Pajcin, and worked throughout his career with Dragan Sipka, Vjeko Josic, and Drasko Aljetic, as well as the ensemble Laste Vrbanje. With Tika Taka, he also recorded the song “Lijepa kao grijeh” (“Beautiful as Sin”).

Sources differ on how many people were injured. Tanjug and RTV report that three people were hurt besides the victim, while Telegraf, Kurir, and Mondo put the number at two, both taken with severe injuries to Sabac General Hospital. Accounts of the exact time of the crash vary too: most sources cite around 6:20 a.m., while Tanjug reports it happened closer to 6:30.

Firefighters from Sabac reached the scene 12 minutes after the crash was reported and cut through the wreckage to free the remaining passengers. The doctor on duty could only confirm one death at the scene. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, and the investigation is ongoing.