MEMBERS of the Meredith Fire Department use a hydraulic rescue tool to open the crushed door of a maroon, Chevy S-10 pickup truck that was involved in a collision with a black Ford pickup and a First Student school bus at the intersection of Route 104 and Corliss Hill Road in Meredith Tuesday afternoon. There were no students on the bus. The young male driver of the maroon pickup truck was taken to Lakes Region General Hospital following extrication, but his injuries were not life-threatening. BEA LEWIS/CITIZEN MEREDITH — A juvenile operating a 2003 Chevrolet S10 sustained minor head injuries and was transported to Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia after colliding with one car and striking a school bus on Tuesday afternoon.

According to police, the youth, whom they declined to identify, made a left turn from Route 104 onto Corliss Hill Road in front of an eastbound pickup. The second truck struck the first truck on the right side, causing the vehicle to spin 180 degrees and hit the side of the school bus which was stopped, waiting to pull onto Route 104. The Chevrolet struck the brand new bus just in front of the right, rear wheel and the force of the impact caused a fiberglass cap covering the bed to fly off the pickup.

The juvenile was trapped in the cab of the truck as the driver’s side of the vehicle came to rest against the side of the bus and the passenger side door was crushed in. Members of the Meredith Fire Department used a hydraulic rescue tool to extricate the driver who was conscious but whose face was bloodied.

Police say the operator of the second vehicle, a 1992 Ford XLT, was Justin Sargent, 27, of New Hampton. He was uninjured, as was the school bus driver, Kenneth Folkes, 63, of Meredith.

There were no passengers on the bus, as all of the students had previously been dropped off.

Harper’s Towing took the first vehicles from the scene; the bus was able to leave under its own power.

Assisting the Meredith Police Department at the scene were the Meredith Fire Department, Stewart’s Ambulance, NH State Police, and the New Hampton Police Department.