1 dead, others injured on Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia

A 42-year-old man died while riding a roller coaster at Six Flags over Georgia after he was thrown from his seat and struck other patrons before landing below the ride, police said Tuesday.

The man who died has been identified as Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, the Cobb County Police Department told Global News.

“Preliminary information gathered through witness and employee interview indicates Kariem was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction. Investigators continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” police said.

Officers located Kariem beneath the ride at the theme park near Atlanta, where he was “unresponsive and not breathing,” police added.

Officers immediately secured the scene and requested assistance from the Major Crimes Unit.

Officials have not released any other information about those who were struck and injured.

Global News has reached out to Six Flags Over Georgia for further comment, but has not received a response.

Six Flags temporarily closed nine roller coasters across six amusement parks on Monday, following the incident involving the roller coaster at the Georgia location.

Attractions at the parks that are similar to the coaster in Austell, Georgia, were closed “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a Six Flags Entertainment Corporation spokesperson, who said staff members and local authorities responded immediately and the park is cooperating with the investigation.

“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” the spokesperson told The Associated Press, adding that the company is providing support to guests and staff who were impacted.

The affected rides include a second coaster named Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Illinois, Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, the coasters Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in North Carolina and the rides Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland in Ontario, Canada.

While the amusement park has not named the ride involved in the incident, a witness told NBC News that he was on Goliath with his fiancée when he saw the man come out of his seat.

“The man started levitating in the air sideways,” Logan Conner told the outlet. “We made direct eye contact with him.”

Britny Landry had been on the ride earlier Monday and was waiting in line to go again.

“We just look, and I just see somebody fly out,” she told KTVU-TV. She said she wasn’t sure at first what she saw. “Maybe somebody had a bag or something.”

The death comes less than two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California announced the retirement of its X2 rollercoaster amid lawsuits alleging serious brain injury caused by the ride.

In a statement, Six Flags Magic Mountain Park President Brian Oerding said, “Since X2 opened in 2008, it has welcomed more than 16 million guests and earned a passionate following among ride enthusiasts. We recognize the special place X2 holds in the coaster community, and we are grateful to our team members who operated and maintained it throughout its run.”

“While X2 consistently passed a multitude of safety tests, we have decided to close the ride because we believe it’s the right thing to do. Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business, and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously,” Oerding explained.

Oerding said that the amusement park’s purpose is to “create fun, thrills and a lifetime of memories by creating unforgettable experiences that are underpinned by comprehensive safety policies.”

The southern California theme park recently settled a wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022, and three more lawsuits alleging traumatic brain injuries were filed in recent weeks.

The ride has been closed since July 12, after two women who rode the roller coaster less than a week apart both needed to be rushed to the hospital after they exited.

One of the riders, 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, collapsed shortly after the ride ended and was found to have massive brain bleeding inside her skull that required emergency brain surgery, according to a lawsuit filed by her family against Six Flags.

Her lawyers said more than 100 people have claimed they got brain injuries from the roller coaster in the past two years and that the closure of X2 would not keep them from continuing to file lawsuits.

According to the Six Flags Magic Mountain website, the X2 roller coaster reaches a top speed of 76 mph (122 km/h) and has a total length of 3,610 feet. The seats rotate 360 degrees “so your body will be flipping around the entire time,” and the ride features two “raven turns”— half loops that turn into sheer drops midway.

—With files from The Associated Press