A man has died after reportedly falling off a roller coaster at an amusement park in the United States, while several other people sustained injuries, police have said.
The incident occurred on Monday at Six Flags Over Georgia, about 10 miles west of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, with witnesses telling CNN affiliate WXIA that they saw the man fall from the ride.
The roller coaster, known as Goliath, is one of about a dozen roller coasters at the park.
It reaches a top speed of 70 miles per hour and rises to a height of 200 feet, according to the amusement park’s website.
One witness told WXIA that the man appeared in a souvenir photograph taken during the ride.
Following the incident, other passengers were evacuated from the roller coaster, while security personnel directed visitors away from the attraction.
Rahim Hakmati, a season ticket holder at the park, told CNN that he arrived as large groups of visitors were leaving.
He said he heard someone report that a person had fallen from Goliath before noticing security personnel moving people away from the ride, which had stopped on the lift hill.
Hakamti and other visitors were eventually escorted out of the park.
“What makes this even crazier is that we were at Six Flags the night before and rode Goliath ourselves. We didn’t notice anything unusual or experience any problems with the ride that night,” Hakmati said.
In a statement, Six Flags Over Georgia expressed condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones.
“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest’s family, friends, and loved ones.”
A spokesperson for the amusement park said similar attractions at other Six Flags parks across the country had been temporarily closed as a precaution.
The Georgia park was already scheduled to remain closed on Tuesday.
Although it generally operates on weekends in October, it opened on Monday to mark the Columbus Day holiday.
Two other roller coasters at Six Flags parks in Illinois and California also bear the name Goliath, although the three attractions were built by different manufacturers.
The Goliath rides in Georgia and California are classified as hyper coasters, a category of steel roller coasters generally exceeding 200 feet in height and designed to emphasise speed and airtime rather than inversions.
The fatal incident comes less than two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain in California announced plans to permanently close its X2 roller coaster following a CNN investigation into a history of serious injuries and deaths associated with the attraction.
The investigation, published in August, identified more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalisations linked to X2, including at least two deaths.
In July, two women reportedly suffered brain injuries after riding the attraction six days apart and were treated at the same emergency room in Santa Clarita, California.
Six Flags Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding said in a blog post that the decision to close X2 was taken despite the ride having passed multiple safety assessments.
He added, “Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business, and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously.”
In 2024, Six Flags merged with Cedar Fair, creating what became the largest amusement park operator in the United States.
