A woman died yesterday soon after her estranged husband confessed to the police that he had stabbed her when she stepped off the bus in Tarxien on her way home from work.

Roger Agius, 47, of Fgura is expected to be charged with the murder of his 40-year-old wife, Catherine in the next few days. The couple who had two young daughters and a son were in the process of obtaining a separation.

Mrs Agius was round the corner from her home when her husband stabbed her, sources said.

After the stabbing, at about 6 p.m., Mr Agius went to the Paola police station and informed the police that he had seriously injured his wife in Neolithic Temple Street, the police said in a statement.

When the police arrived they found the woman lying in the middle of the road with a knife lodged in her side. She was rushed to Mater Dei Hospital where she later lost her life.

A woman who lived close by explained how, when she realised something wrong had happened, she ran outside and saw a nurse tending to Mrs Agius.

The nurse asked her for a piece of cloth, to assist Mrs Agius from losing more blood, and the neighbour ran inside and grabbed a white towel.

"The poor woman had turned pale and was groaning in pain. I've never seen anything like it. She was wearing a white shirt that was covered in blood. Then I noticed the knife, with a grey rubbery handle," the woman said.

As she was stabbed, Mrs Agius dropped her hand bag and shopping bags on the spot where they remained - in a cordoned-off area - until Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna appointed several court experts to assist him during the inquiry.

Mr Agius has been remanded in police custody for questioning.

This is the second murder to take place in that same street. On March 20, 1999, police constable Mark Farrugia, who was 22, was shot outside his parent's house just a few metres away from yesterday's scene. Former constable Etienne Carter was jailed for 22 years when a jury found him guilty of the murder.