A soldier died yesterday morning after he was crushed by a concrete mixer when his motorcycle skidded underneath it.

Gunner Jesmond Agius, 47, was a stone’s throw away from home when the accident took place. Still wearing his Revenue Security Corps uniform, he was on his way back from his morning shift at Luqa Barracks.

A police spokesman said Mr Agius was driving in the same direction as an Attard Brothers concrete mixer, from Ħamrun to Mrieħel, when his motorcycle skidded and collided with the truck at the corner linking St Joseph High Street and Fleur De Lys Road in St Venera shortly before noon.

The driver of the concrete mixer, 49, could do little to avoid the crash as the red motorcycle swept beneath his moving vehicle, instantly killing Mr Agius. The motorcycle was partly crushed by the wheels until the concrete mixer came to a halt.

The truck driver was treated for shock, but otherwise uninjured.

Mr Agius, who was confirmed dead on site by a doctor, was married with children.

Roadworks are currently underway in the vicinity but it is not yet clear what caused the collision.

A year and two days ago, Gunner Renzo Grima, 30, also succumbed to his injuries after he came off his motorcycle in a crash with an oncoming car in Mġarr Road, Għajnsielem.