Red roses will be left on crosswalks in 20 Bulgarian cities on July 26 as a part of a campaign initiated to prevent tragic road accidents in the country.

The campaign is triggered by the death of a 12-year-old girl that was hit by a car while crossin g a lively street in the southern Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas.

Flowers will be left on crosswalks that have witnessed a worrying number of traffic accidents, The initiative has been launched on Facebook and has been supported by NGOs, the Dnevnik daily reports.

A total of 21 773 Bulgarians have lost their lives in traffic accidents during the last 20 years.

This number equals the population of a medium-sized town by Bulgarian standards. Bulgaria leads EU in traffic deaths, reaching as high as 150 deaths per million people.

Some 25% of the victims have died younger than the age of 24. Additionally, as many as 168 007 Bulgarians have remained handicapped for the rest of their lives during the last 20 years.