US:Morgan Freeman was critically ill in hospital yesterday after the car he was driving overturned several times, US authorities said.
The Oscar-winning actor was airlifted to the Regional Medical Centre in Memphis, Tennessee, where his condition was described as serious following the crash on a highway in rural Mississippi shortly before midnight local time.
The 71-year-old actor broke his shoulder and arm in the incident, but is expected to make a good recovery, his spokesman told showbiz website TMZ.com.
Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima which belonged to his passenger, Demaris Meyer, of Memphis, when the car left a rural highway and overturned several times.
"There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved," Sgt Williams said. He added that both Freeman and Ms Meyer were wearing seatbelts.
There was still no information on Ms Meyer's condition, he said.
State troopers told TMZ.com that Freeman was talking before he was taken to the hospital. Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the scene soon after the crash happened. He said Freeman "was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point." McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene. When one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone camera, Freeman said: "No freebies, no freebies." - (AP)