Actor Morgan Freeman injured in crash

The Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman has been seriously injured in car accident in Mississippi.

Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Mr Freeman, who is 71, was in a serious condition in a Memphis hospital.

CBS News says that The Mississippi Highway Patrol reported Freeman's car went off Highway 32 in Tallahatchie County and flipped several times.

Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the scene soon after the accident about four miles west of Charleston, near the 126-acre ranch where Mr Freeman lives his wife Myrna.

Mr McFerrin said it appeared that Mr Freeman's car was airborne when it left the highway and landed in a ditch. Rescuers had to use hydraulic cutters to free him.

"They had to use the jaws of life (hydraulic cutters) to extract him from the vehicle," said Mr McFerrin. "He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point."

Mr McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor. He added that when one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone camera, Freeman said: "No freebies, no freebies."

Freeman, most recently seen in 'The Dark Knight' Batman movie, won an Oscar in 2005 as Best Supporting Actor in 'Million Dollar Baby'. His other starring roles include 'Driving Miss Daisy', 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'Amistad', 'Bruce Almighty' and 'The Bucket List'.