A prominent blogger in Malta, Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, who had accused the island's government of corruption, was reportedly killed when the car she was driving exploded shortly after she left her home in Bidnija, near Mosta, Times of Malta reported.
It is not yet clear what caused the explosion, which sources said was an extremely powerful one with debris from the car, a Peugeot 108, strewn across the road and in a nearby field.
Malta Television reported that Caruana Galizia had filed a complaint to the police two weeks ago to say she had received threats but gave no further information.
It was noted earlier that Daphne Caruana Galizia was known for the journalistic investigations about the Panama Papers scandal, about the growing corruption scandal involving Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat and the Azerbaijani president’s daughter, Leyla Aliyeva.