Six Flags Shuts Nine Coasters After Rider Is Ejected From Georgia’s Goliath and Killed

Six Flags has shut down nine roller coasters at six parks across the United States and Canada after a 42-year-old Atlanta man was thrown from the Goliath hypercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia and killed in front of horrified guests on Monday afternoon.

Cobb County police identified the rider as Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, an IT manager, technology teacher and robotics coach at Wesley International Academy, an Atlanta public charter school. Preliminary witness and employee interviews indicate Kariem “was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction,” police said. He was found unresponsive and not breathing. Several other people were injured; officials have not said how many or how seriously.

What witnesses described

Officers were called to the park in Austell, about 15 miles northwest of Atlanta, shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, when the park was open for the federal holiday. Onlookers told local media that Kariem appeared to be riding with his son while his wife and daughter watched from the ground. Witnesses described him falling from the train, striking it several times and landing on the roof of an attraction below.

One guest waiting in line told CNN that the train returned to the station with an empty seat and its lap bar loose, and that a young passenger appeared to be injured and covered in blood. Other riders were left stranded on the coaster’s 200-foot lift hill for roughly an hour after the ride stopped.

Nine coasters closed “out of an abundance of caution”

Within hours, Six Flags temporarily closed nine similar hypercoasters, a company spokesperson said. They include Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Illinois, Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in North Carolina, Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island in Ohio, and Behemoth and Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland.

All but one of those rides were built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, which also built Georgia’s Goliath when it opened in 2006. The company called the accident “tragic” and said it was “actively investigating,” but declined further comment. Six Flags Over Georgia, which currently operates only on weekends, is scheduled to reopen Friday with Goliath still closed.

Investigators focus on restraints and procedures

The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, which oversees amusement ride inspections in the state, has opened an investigation to determine whether a mechanical malfunction, a failure of the restraint system, operator error or another factor was to blame. Cobb County police’s Major Crimes Unit is also investigating, and the medical examiner has not released a cause of death.

Goliath reaches 70 mph and uses a lap-bar restraint over the thighs rather than an over-the-shoulder harness. Brian Avery, a University of Florida professor who studies ride safety, told CNN the manufacturer has a strong safety record but noted the ride lacks a secondary restraint, leaving riders with no backup if the primary system fails.

Fixed-site amusement rides are not federally regulated; oversight is left to the states, a patchwork that safety advocates and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts have long criticized.

Pressure on a struggling company

Shares of Six Flags Entertainment fell about 14% on Tuesday to their lowest level since 2009, erasing roughly $170 million in market value, according to CNN. The company, which merged with Cedar Fair in 2024, has not reported a profitable quarter since that deal closed and was already facing pressure from activist investor Jana Partners, which has teamed with NFL star Travis Kelce on a stake in the company.

The death is the first reported at Six Flags Over Georgia involving a rider falling from a roller coaster since the park opened in 1967, according to WSB-TV.