Geo World

Mr. Bean injured in car crash

LONDON: British comedy actor Rowan Atkinson, best known for playing the character Mr. Bean, suffered a minor injury after the supercar he was driving crashed and caught fire, emergency services said Friday. Car enthusiast Atkinson needed hospital treatment Thursday after the McLaren F1 car he was driving spun off the road near the village of Haddon, eastern England, before crashing into a tree and a lamppost. The 56-year-old walked away from the accident before firefighters arrived and put out the blaze. "We were called to the scene of a single vehicle collision on the A605 near Haddon at about 7.30 pm (1830 GMT) yesterday," a local police spokesman said. "The driver of the vehicle, a man, was taken to Peterborough City Hospital." A police source confirmed the man involved was Atkinson. An ambulance spokesman said the casualty had suffered "a minor shoulder injury." The actor's love of fast cars is a stark contrast to his hapless character in the Mr. Bean series, who drives an ageing Mini. The McLaren F1 is one of the fastest production cars in the world and has a top speed of 230 miles (370 kilometres) per hour. It is worth around #650,000 ($1.05 million, 750,000 euros). Atkinson recently appeared in popular British motoring TV show Top Gear, taking part in a segment called "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car." He notched up the fastest ever time on the show, completing a circuit of a race track in one minute, 42.2 seconds. Atkinson rose to stardom for comedy shows including "Blackadder" and "Not the Nine O'Clock News" but achieved huge international fame with the slapstick comedy of Mr. Bean. (AFP)