Freeman flown to hospital

By Jeffrey Jolson and Reuters

TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) – Oscar-winning U.S. actor Morgan Freeman was hospitalized in serious condition on Monday after the car he was driving careened off a rural highway and rolled several times, authorities said.

Freeman, 71, was airlifted late on Sunday night to a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital, about 100 miles from the accident scene, which is near a home he keeps in Charleston, Mississippi.

“The vehicle went off the edge of the road and flipped several times,” Mississippi Highway Patrol Sgt. Ben Williams said. No other car was involved in the accident.

From the direction Freeman was traveling, he appeared to be headed toward his home, Williams said.

Williams said it was “possible” that Freeman, who co-stars in the current blockbuster Batman movie the “Dark Knight,” had fallen asleep at the wheel, but he added that authorities had ruled out alcohol as a factor in the wreck.

Freeman was conscious and talking to arriving officers afterward, Williams said, adding that no citation had been issued in the accident.

A spokeswoman at Regional Medical Center in Memphis said Freeman was in serious condition but gave no further details.

Both Freeman and a female passenger, identified as Demaris Meyer, were wearing seat belts, but the air bags did not deploy in the 1997 Nissan Maxima registered to Meyer, Williams said. He said he did not know the extent of her injuries.