A woman who died in a motorcycle crash in Rabat last month likely lost control of her bike due to a slippery material on the road, the police have concluded.

Authorities are now appealing for the public to provide any information possible about the material or who may have dropped it. 

Marie Claire Lombardi died on the afternoon of October 22 when she lost control of her motorbike and fell at a roundabout on Mdina Road. 

She was the 20th road fatality of the year. 

In a statement issued on Friday, the police said that investigations had concluded that Lombardi most probably lost control of the motorcycle due to “a slippery material being left on the road”. 

Anyone with information about the material or the person who dropped it can contact the police on 21224001, 119 or by visiting a police station. Information can be provided confidentially.

The police statement lends credence to a theory pushed by Lombardi’s grieving husband, who told Lovin Malta that eyewitnesses and photos showed olive paste smeared on the road at the crash site. 

He claimed that another eyewitness claimed to have seen an entire crate of olives on the ground at the roundabout at around 5pm, just 30 minutes before the fatal crash.  That eyewitness also claimed to have seen a blue pickup van full of olive crates parked near the roundabout at that time.