Two Eastern Cape pupils burnt to death and seven others were injured after their clothes caught fire. They were trying to burn a snake slithering on the school grounds. The education department is probing allegations the pupils were allegedly instructed by a teacher to set the snake alight. Two Eastern Cape pupils burnt to death and seven others were injured after their clothes caught fire when they attempted to burn a snake found on the school grounds. The Eastern Cape education department confirmed the bizarre incident occurred at the Nzulula Primary School in Libode on Tuesday. Two pupils died at St Barnabas and Nelson Mandela Academic Hospitals due to the burns they suffered, education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said.