Roches and Matura, both residents of Libertad village in the Orange Walk District, had to be transported to the Northern Regional Hospital. Roches was not severely burned, but Matura suffered first-degree burns to the hands, shoulders and feet and was in a more serious condition.

They flew their kites with copper wire on Sunday evening, March 19, sometime around 5:00.

Roches? little sister, Courtney Roches, said that she used a length of sugar cane to knock the wire from out of her brother?s hands. She explained that she had tried to knock the wire from Matura?s hands as well, but did not succeed. A puppy was electrocuted when Matura held on to him while being shocked by the current from the power cable.

Courtney said that she was in the yard and she saw the boys playing with the puppy while they were reeling in the kite. She said that she turned around and when she turned back, she only saw smoke, and fire going up into the air, and then heard a loud ?pow.?

At first she was frightened, said Courtney, but then she saw her brother beginning to tremble, and that gave her strength. She grabbed a piece of sugar cane that was nearby and she ?bat whe di wire fu see whe wha happen.?

Courtney then tried to hit the wire out of Matura?s hands, but the wire was wrapped around his hand and he was sitting on a piece of it.

Courtney?s mother, Myrtle Jimenez, who was in the house, ran out to see her son, whom she calls Joeito, and Matura, whom she calls Coney, lying on the ground. Joeito wasn?t moving, and when she looked at Coney, she saw something coming out of his mouth, and she screamed.

Two young men who were playing basketball at a court nearby came and assisted her.

Joe Roches explained to us that they had a kite but that they did not have any fishing line or thread to raise it with. His friend, Matura, came up with the idea of using the copper wire, especially because the breeze was blowing hard.

He was reeling in the kite, said Joe, and Matura was ?balling it up on a condensed milk can.

Matura took the story from there and explained that they were going to add more tail to the kite, because it was not flying the way they wanted. He said that when the kite touched the high power wire, and he recalled nothing else until he was at the hospital.