By BEA LEWIS

Northern Lakes Region Bureau

MEREDITH — A two-car accident on Route 104 late Monday afternoon sent five people, including an infant, to the hospital for treatment of injuries.

The crash occurred shortly after 5 p.m. at the intersection of Meredith Center Road and Route 104 on a straight stretch of highway that has a posted speed limit of 55 mph.

N.H. State Trooper Michael Plunkett, assigned to Troop E barrack in Tamworth, was the first to arrive on the scene and found a mother standing outside her badly damaged silver Ford Focus holding her baby boy.

Plunkett said the unidentified woman was unable to recall what had happened and appeared to be ready to collapse. The woman was unwilling to hand the baby off to Plunkett, the trooper said, until he told her that he was a father of four and pledged not to set him down.

As Plunkett held the baby on his hip, emergency rescue personnel and Meredith Police Officer Deborah Lewis secured the woman to a backboard while she was standing and then gently lowered her to the ground.

Meanwhile, medical personnel, firefighters and several passing motorists attended to two other older children that had been passengers in the Ford. Members of the Meredith Fire Department had to force open the doors on a late model Chevrolet Malibu four-door sedan to free the female driver. The second car involved in the crash sustained severe front-end damage.

The baby had been secured in a car seat and did not appear to have suffered any injuries. Plunkett removed the car seat from the damaged car and an emergency medical technician with Stewart’s Ambulance strapped the boy into the seat before securing it inside the ambulance so he could accompany his mother to the hospital.

Authorities said it appears one of the cars was pulling out from Meredith Center Road and turning left to head toward New Hampton when it collided with an oncoming car traveling on Route 104. Police are investigating the cause of the crash and were still working to gather the names of the drivers and their passengers this morning. None of the injured appeared to have suffered life-threatening injuries.