Two pupils appear in court charged with murder in recent school fire

(9 Apr 2001)
Nairobi - April 9
1. Wide shot of exterior of court house
2. Accused student Davis Otieno Onyango (17) coming upstairs into the courtroom, wearing red hood
3. Cutaway policeman
4. Felix Mambo Ngumbao (16) second accused student (white shirt) walking into courtroom covering his face
5. Mothers of the two accused students
6. Wide shot of courtroom
7. Mid of accused
8. Mid of accused
9. Mother of one of the students killed in the fire, crying
10. Magistrate introduces case
11. Head master David Killu and deputy headmaster Stephen Makau
12. Magistrate sitting down looking at the papers
Kyanguli, 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Nairobi, Machakos area - File (April 4, 2001)
13. Wide of people walking in procession
14. Mid of people carrying coffins
15. Cut to mourners
16. Men lowering coffin into ground
17. Mid of same
18. Wide of people around grave
19. Mid of mourners embracing
20. President Daniel Arap Moi laying wreath of flowers on the grave
STORYLINE:
Two teenagers arrested in connection with a deadly fire in a school dormitory in Kenya last month, appeared in court on Monday charged with the murder of 67 of their fellow students.
The minors, Davis Otieno Onyango (17) and Felix Mambo Ngumbao (16) were accompanied at the Nairobi courthouse by their mothers.
Police say the boys were students at the school in Machakos, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) outside of Nairobi.
The school's headmaster and deputy head master have also been charged with negligence as the boys had been locked into the dormitory to prevent any of them running away.
All 67 burned to death when the fire broke out on the morning of March 26.
Onyango and Ngumbao are believed to have started the fire because they were angry over the annulment of final exam results and demands that they pay school fees.
The adult penalty for murder in Kenya is capital punishment.
If the students are found guilty, imposing the death sentence may spark protests by human rights groups.
Earlier in the month, thousands gathered in Kyanguli to mourn the death of the schoolboys.
Members of the government and parliament joined members of the public at the mass burial just outside the country's capital.
The mass burial was organised because the boys had been burnt beyond recognition and identifying the bodies through D-N-A testing would be too expensive and take too long.
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