A third victim of the bizarre attempt to kill a suspected puff adder in a drain at Nzuluka Senior Primary in Libode has died.
Azukile Ntakana, 12, a grade 7 pupil died on Saturday from burn wounds, caused when a teacher poured sanitiser into a drain and lit it, causing the flame to run into an adjacent storeroom and ignite a 25-litre container of sanitiser.
DispatchLIVE reported that seven pupils had to be rushed to St Barnabas Hospital in Ntlaza after a failed attempt to burn a snake, which had slid into a small walkway built over a stormwater channel next to the toilets.
Burning grass had been placed at either side of the walkway. When pupils noticed the snake was still alive, a teacher poured sanitiser into the hole to try and drive it out. However, there was an explosion and the boys, who were standing a few metres away, were engulfed in flames.
Seven children were covered in the blazing alcohol-based sanitiser. The first to die was Lenzo Nquphaza, 6, followed by Likhona Mshweshwe, 8, and now Azukile Ntakana. Four others were injured.
The snake has not been found and there has been no teaching at the school since the tragedy on May 4. There was confusion over claims that the school would remain closed until the police brought a snake wrangler to remove the reptile.
The police denied this.
Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said Azukile had died in the intensive care unit of the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.
Education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said two other pupils were still hospitalised.
Kupelo said the two children were treated at St Barnabas hospital for 80% and 60% burns with inhalation injuries, “meaning they were burnt on the inside as well”.
One of the pupils, an 11-year-old Grade 4 pupil, was showing signs of improvement, his aunt said. He is being treated at St Barnabas hospital in Libode.
She said two of her nephews had been burnt.
“My other nephew has since gone to the hospital three times for check-ups. We are scared for his life but at least now we see an improvement.
“We are keeping him in our prayers.
“The other boy is burnt in the face, stomach and legs. He was seriously burnt from the waist down.
“I last saw him on Friday. My sister and I take turns looking after him at the hospital. He is still traumatised and needs counselling,” she said.
She said the family did not blame anyone, as it happened because of unforeseen circumstances.
School principal Ntombelanga Mdudu told DispatchLIVE the pupils were traumatised.
“Children are scared to come to school fearing the snake. Police were supposed to come and search for the snake but have not done so up to now.
“The department said we should stop coming to school until the snake has been searched for and found.
“We as teachers come to school to do things like schedules, but the pupils have not been coming since the department came to the school on May 6.
“We do not know whether the snake is in the drain but we are scared to go there.
“We worry that children will miss out on their curriculum, but there is nothing we can do after the department spoke,” she said.
SGB chair Zameka Makhunga said they were promised that a police unit would come and assess and retrieve the snake.
“We want our children to go back to school so they do not become uneducated like us, but we cannot risk their lives.
“We are still waiting for the people who said they would come to remove the snake.”
Makhunga said teachers had been advised by the department to report the matter to the police.
“The police came to the school and asked teachers what had happened. I do not know if a case was opened,” she said.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said: “This office is not aware of any other team from the SAPS who were going to remove the alleged snake.”
Police were still investigating.
But Mtima said: “The school handed over the investigation to the police which have the facility to ascertain what happened. A crime scene has to be co-ordinated. They [pupils] will interfere with the crime scene, then what happens next?”
Mtima said he would answer the rest of DispatchLIVE questions but had not done so by deadline.
“This [death] bothers us because we will never know what that child could have become. We appeal to educators, school management teams and SGB’s to look after our children.”
Counselling was offered to teachers, pupils and families, Mtima said.
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