A man who was rescuing a child who had fallen into the American River near Kyburz Saturday afternoon ended up drowning himself, after successfully saving the little one’s life, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

Mir-Khaled Ahmad, 41, from Vacaville, jumped into the river near Randall Tract in the American River Canyon off Highway 50 after seeing the child fall from a rock and into the rapidly moving river shortly before 2:30 p.m.

The rescuer and another person onshore were able to save the child, but tragically Ahmad was swept downriver immediately afterward, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

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