Stuntman hospitalized after 2nd Bond auto mishap in a week

Though the upcoming James Bond instalment Quantum of Solace was scheduled to wrap shooting in Italy this week, filming for a secondary unit has been suspended after a car accident landed a stuntman in hospital.

According to a statement released by producers late Wednesday, the accident which took place in the Italian resort region of Lake Garda in northern Italy is being investigated.

According to media reports, two stuntman for the film were involved in a crash while filming a car chase sequence on Wednesday.

One man suffered serious head injuries and underwent surgery at a hospital in the nearby city of Verona, while the second suffered only minor injuries, according to local officials.

It is the second car accident the film's crew has suffered in less than a week. Last weekend, a staffer driving an Aston Martin to the film's Italian set veered off the road and plunged into Lake Garda. He received minor injuries and authorities were called to fish the pricey car out of the water.

The film's cast and crew have been criss-crossing the globe to shoot the upcoming 22nd Bond film, with past stops having included the U.K., Panama, Mexico and Chile. The Italian incidents are just the latest mishaps the production has suffered along the way.

While shooting in a remote Chilean town, filming was disrupted when the mayor of the northern municipality burst onto the set in protest.

The man, who was briefly detained by police, charged that producers had failed to gain to his permission to shoot. He also condemned the fact that the scenes being filmed were to be depicted in Quantum of Solace not as Chile but as neighbouring Bolivia.

Meanwhile,a planned shoot at the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru were scrapped in March because of bad weather.

Quantum of Solace is set to hit theatres in November.