Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov was placed into a coma after suffering severe burns when the Ferrari he was driving crashed and burst into flames in Nice on the French Riviera on Nov. 25.

Doctors at Marseille burns hospital La Conception will wait 48 hours before deciding on a diagnosis, said a spokeswoman for the city's hospitals who declined to be identified. Severely burned patients are often placed in an artificially induced coma, the spokeswoman said today by phone. Kerimov's family asked the hospital not to disclose detailed information on his condition.

The 40-year-old businessman, worth $7.1 billion according to Forbes magazine, was speeding and weaving through traffic when he lost control of a black Ferrari Enzo on the Promenade des Anglais, the boulevard that runs along the Nice shoreline as he was speeding, said the policeman in Nice who is heading the investigation into the crash. The policeman, who spoke by telephone today, declined to be named, citing French regulations.

Kerimov lost control of the Ferrari while overtaking another car, hitting the sidewalk and then a tree before the engine caught fire, the policeman said. Traffic rules limit cars on the Promenade des Anglais to 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour.