An early-afternoon two-vehicle accident at Laird’s Crossing tookthe life of a McCall Creek woman and left five others in thehospital Tuesday.

Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris said Janice Allen, 63, ofMcCall Creek, was fatally injured in an accident that occurred atthe intersection of Highway 84 and Jackson-Liberty Drive at 1:01p.m. She was pronounced dead at King’s Daughters Medical Center at2:04 p.m.

Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Sgt. Rusty Boyd said Allenwas riding in a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox with her daughter Janet AnnHalford, 32, of McCall Creek and her three grandchildren, AustinHalford, 5, Dawson Halford, 5, and Brandon Halford, 2, when thevehicle collided with a 1990 Chevrolet GK1 pickup truck pulling aflatbed trailer with a lawnmower. The pickup was driven by MelissaHall, 31, of Brookhaven.

“The Equinox attempted to turn on to Jackson-Liberty, and turnedin front of the pickup truck,” Boyd said. “The pickup struck theEquinox in the right side.”

Allen was taken by ambulance to KDMC, and Halford and the threechildren were transported to the hospital by the Lincoln CountySheriff’s Department. Halford was in stable condition at KDMCWednesday morning, and the children were all treated andreleased.

Hall was also taken to KDMC by ambulance and transferred to theUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center. Information on hercondition was not available.

McMorris said the Halfords and Allen had been running errandsand were headed back to McCall Creek when the accidentoccurred.

“They had taken the children to the dentist’s office, and weredoing some shopping, they were on the way home when this happened,”McMorris said, adding that Laird’s Crossing continues to bedangerous in spite of efforts to improve conditions in recentyears.

“Even after the road has been redone we still have too manyfatalities there,” he said.

Boyd said the Jackson-Liberty and Highway 84 intersection hasalways been a bad one because of a dangerous dip in the eastboundlane of 84 that blocks visibility to cars turning off ofJackson-Liberty.

“I don’t know how many fatalities we’ve had there over theyears, but that is a really bad intersection,” he said. “If youdon’t pay attention, the way it’s constructed you can be on top ofthe intersection without even knowing it. The people coming out ofJackson-Liberty need to take their time and take an extra look,like we’re all really supposed to do anyway.”

Allen’s arrangements are being handled by Brookhaven FuneralHome and are currently incomplete.