Marie Claire Lombardi has been identified as the 45-year-old woman who died on Saturday after losing control of her motorbike in Rabat. 

The accident happened at around 5.30pm in Triq L-Imdina. The police said she lost control of her Yamaha and fell. 

Tributes flooded in on social media for hairdresser Marie Claire, described as having a bubbly personality and a contagious smile.

“I just saw you yesterday coming out of your shop with your helmet already on, ready to leave, giving me one of your beautiful smiles whilst we said our goodbye,” one person commented. 

Her uncle, writer Gino Lombardi, wrote he spent the night trying to believe that the news was just a bad dream.

“Today we woke up to face the reality that you are no longer with us,” he wrote in a touching tribute.

“Everyone loved you because your smile would fill the place you entered with joy.”

Her cousin, Albert Gauchi Cunningham, said her death was a tragedy and she left the world too soon. 

"How can it be? What an ugly moment this is for the family. A true tragedy."

President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca also expressed shock.

“What a big heart you had, and how you loved everyone! What an example you set with your life,” the former president said as she paid her condolences to the family.

Marie Claire is the 21st road fatality this year.

Police released an image of the motorbike after the accident. Photo: Malta Police Force

Earlier in October it was reported that there were more than 800 traffic accidents that had resulted in fatalities or injuries over the past three years.