Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 (IANS): A 55-year-old woman in Kerala's famed tourist destination Kovalam was hit by a speeding bike on Sunday while trying to cross the road.

The woman, identified as Sandhya, was thrown away from the road and died on the spot.

The biker was also admitted to the hospital with multiple injuries. The body of Sandhya would be handed over to her relatives after a post-mortem, said police. The accident happened when some youths were engaged in bike racing.

Groups of youngsters can often be seen driving bikes at breakneck speed in this tourist destination.

Already six people have lost their lives in recent days through such two-wheeler mishaps.

Kovalam is one of the most favoured tourist destinations across the world and a large number of tourists frequent this destination from every corner of the globe. Chartered flights carrying tourists to this tourist destination are a common sight.

R. John Kurien, a tourist operator at Kovalam while speaking to IANS said, "Kovalam is the biggest tourist destination of Kerala and such careless bike driving leading to the death of unsuspecting pedestrians cannot be tolerated. This will give a negative picture to the outside world and tourists will move away from this destination and can land up in Sri Lanka which has almost similar geographical conditions like in Kovalam."

"Group of youngsters drive bikes at high speeds. Whatever pressure we try to put on the police, they do not act," he added.