One Dead, Several Injured After Rider Is Ejected from Rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia

A visit to a Georgia amusement park turned tragic on Monday when a man was killed after being thrown from a rollercoaster, according to authorities, leaving fellow visitors shaken and prompting the operator to temporarily shut down similar rides across North America.

The incident occurred at Six Flags Over Georgia, a theme park located roughly 15 miles (24km) west of Atlanta, shortly before 16:00 local time (20:00 GMT). The Cobb County Police Department confirmed that officers assigned to the park responded to the scene and are leading an investigation into the death.

The victim has been identified as Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old resident of Atlanta. According to police, officers found him lying beneath the ride. He was unresponsive and was not breathing when they reached him.

While officials have not formally named the attraction involved, aerial video captured by news helicopters showed the Goliath rollercoaster sitting motionless midway along its track, with passengers being escorted off the train by park employees. The images, broadcast widely on Monday evening, offered a stark visual of the ride frozen in place after the emergency unfolded.

In a statement released after the incident, police said the account emerging from their inquiry suggests Kariem was thrown from the coaster and struck other park guests before falling below the structure. "Preliminary information gathered through witness and employee interview indicates Kariem was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction," the department said.

Witnesses who spoke with local news outlets described chaotic and distressing scenes. One park guest told 11 Alive that Kariem appeared to come free of his seat restraint, then collided with parts of the coaster and with other riders before landing on the roof of a nearby haunted house attraction. That witness also said the sequence of events had been captured in souvenir photographs automatically taken while the ride was in motion.

A married couple who had been riding at the time told the same outlet that they saw Kariem fall and then be struck by the coaster. They said park staff had inspected their safety harnesses before the train departed, a detail that may prove significant as investigators examine whether the ride's restraint system functioned as intended.

The emotional toll on bystanders was evident in interviews conducted in the hours after the death. CiCi Nelson told CNN she was waiting in line for the Goliath when the train returned to the station. She recalled seeing an unoccupied seat with a safety bar that appeared to be loose, alongside a young girl who was covered in blood. Nelson described a scene of hysteria, with at least one man visibly panicking and shouting that someone had fallen from the ride.

Another witness, Brittany Landry, told Fox News she believed she had watched Kariem be ejected. Visibly upset, she said the experience left her in tears precisely because she and others had just been on the same coaster.

Six Flags responded to the fatality with a public statement expressing grief. The company said it was "deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today" and extended its "thoughts and heartfelt condolences" to the man's family, friends and loved ones. A park spokesperson added that its team and local authorities had responded immediately and that the company was cooperating fully with the investigation.

As a precaution, Six Flags announced it was temporarily closing nine rides at its properties across the United States and Canada. The company did not specify which attractions were affected or how long the closures would remain in place.

State regulators have also become involved. The Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, the agency responsible for enforcing amusement park safety rules and standards in Georgia, said it was reviewing the incident "to ensure full compliance with all applicable policies and procedures." Local officials likewise mobilized: Mableton Mayor Michael Owens said the city's public safety director was coordinating with county police and park security as the situation developed.

The Goliath, which opened in 2006, is one of the park's signature attractions. According to the Six Flags website, it rises 200ft (60m) into the air, features a 170ft plunge, incorporates a 540-degree spiral and reaches speeds of up to 70mph (112km/h). The park rates the coaster at level four on its five-level "thrill scale," underscoring its intensity.

The death is at least the seventh to occur at Six Flags Over Georgia, according to the Doan Law Firm, which tracks amusement park accidents and represents victims. That figure is likely to intensify scrutiny of safety practices at the park and across the industry.

Brian Avery, a University of Florida professor who specializes in amusement ride and device operations, told the BBC that rollercoasters in the US are not subject to federal regulation, leaving individual states to set their own safety protocols and maintenance requirements. That patchwork approach means oversight can vary considerably from one jurisdiction to another.

Avery stressed the importance of a thorough inquiry. "When these types of tragedies happen, you got to get to the bottom as to why, so we can move forward and address those issues so that they never happen again," he said. He also explained that containing riders safely is among the central design challenges for any coaster, including decisions about where to position harnesses, which differ depending on the type of ride.

The professor offered a window into the industry's philosophy, describing how designers intentionally push the boundaries of excitement. "We design these rides, the industry does, to flirt with danger," Avery said. "We're taking people up to the edge, but we're not actually putting them in danger. That is the goal."

The tragedy in Georgia arrives amid heightened attention on coaster safety at Six Flags. Just weeks earlier, one of the company's parks in southern California announced it would retire the popular X2 rollercoaster after more than 100 people alleged they had suffered brain injuries from riding it. Six Flags said the ride had passed a range of safety tests but described the decision to close it as "the right thing to do."

Six Flags is the largest amusement park operator in North America, with a portfolio spanning 20 amusement parks, 14 water parks and nine resorts across Canada, the United States and Mexico. As investigators continue their work in Cobb County, the company faces questions about how a guest came to be ejected from a ride that had been operating for nearly two decades.