Three boys drown in stream during a leadership course for 120 students

Tragic spot: The area where the three boys drowned in Membakut, some 90km from Kota Kinabalu. (Inset) Tearful family members of the boys hugging each other at the Beaufort Hospital.

KOTA KINABALU: A leadership programme at an idyllic resort for 120 students went horribly wrong when three schoolboys drowned while trekking along a man-made stream in the area.

Hafiz Hamizan Rahman and Daniel Norman, both 16, as well as Khuzaimi Zakaran, 17, were with their group, including teachers, when they went slightly off the de­signated route and slipped into a deeper part of the stream.