RUMFORD – Two people were injured Saturday afternoon in a nearly head-on collision on Route 2 at the intersection of Sunnyside Terrace Road in Rumford.

Former Rumford resident Irving Holman, 62, of Milton, Conn., complained of head, back and shoulder injuries and Natalie Lapointe, 17, of Rumford, suffered a right arm injury, investigating Rumford Patrolman Douglas Maifeld said.

Both were taken by Med-Care Ambulance to Rumford Hospital where they were treated and later released, according to a nursing supervisor.

“They were all lucky they only had minor injuries. They were wearing safety belts and her airbags deployed,” Maifeld said. “I talked to her and said, ‘So, are you convinced seat belts work?’ and she said, ‘Oh, yes.'”

At 2:10 p.m., Lapointe, who was driving a 1997 maroon Ford Explorer, was attempting to turn left off Sunnyside Terrace onto Route 2 as Holman, driving a 1987 blue Mercury Marquis, approached in the westbound lane.

Maifeld said that Lapointe and a witness traveling behind Holman told him the Mercury’s right-turn signal was on, and had been on for a long time. Expecting Holman to turn right onto Sunnyside Terrace, Lapointe pulled out into the path of the Mercury.

“He saw her and tried to avoid, but they connected nearly head-on. She got spun around and went off the road,” Maifeld said.

The Mercury veered off the opposite lane, traveled down a short embankment and slammed into two side-by-side utility poles with enough force to buckle the roof and peel the driver’s side fender and wheel well off the crushed car.

Firefighter Donald Coulombe cut the mangled driver’s side door off the Mercury, allowing access to Holman. Both Holman and Lapointe were loaded into the same ambulance.

A Bisson and Hebert tow truck driver pulled the Mercury away from the poles, then stopped because a small fire ignited in the smashed engine compartment. A sparking battery crushed into the hood continued to reignite the fire until firefighter Butch Glover could reach in and cut away a battery cable.

Traffic was limited to one lane until the victims were wheeled to the ambulance. Then, it was routed around the scene on Prospect Avenue for about an hour.

No charges will be filed.