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Police are investigating the death of a man who fell from a roller coaster at a Six Flags near Atlanta, an event that left other visitors to that amusement park stunned.
Authorities have not confirmed how the man died on Monday at Six Flags Over Georgia, in Austell, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Atlanta. No information has been released regarding the status of other people who may have been injured.
Detectives from the Cobb County Police Department's major crimes unit are investigating.
Authorities and Six Flags did not identify the ride involved in the man's death, but local television stations showed video of passengers being evacuated from the Goliath roller coaster.
Logan Conner said he was on the Goliath with his fiancée when he saw the man slip from his seat.
“The man started to levitate in the air sideways. We made direct eye contact with him,” Conner told NBC.
Britny Landry had been on the ride earlier on Monday and was waiting in line to go again. She could see part of the Goliath's track.
“We looked up and saw someone fly out,” Landry told KTVU-TV. She said at first she wasn't sure if that was what she had seen. “Maybe someone had a bag or something.”
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation temporarily closed nine roller coasters at six amusement parks, “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a company spokesperson, who indicated that staff and local authorities responded immediately and that the park is cooperating with the investigation.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident involving a guest at our park today,” the spokesperson stated. They added that the company is providing support to the visitors and staff who were affected.
Neither police nor Six Flags have responded to messages requesting additional information. A request for comment was also sent to the state Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner.
Goliath, which opened in 2006, reaches a top speed of 113 km/h (70 mph) and has a height of 61 meters (200 feet), according to the park's website.
For about 3 1/2 minutes, passengers “race through sharp turns and soar over colossal hills,” the website notes.
Lisa Cupid, chair of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, reported that the next of kin of the man who died have been notified.
“I cannot imagine the horror that visitors and employees witnessed today, and my heart goes out to the family who lost a loved one,” Cupid declared. “We are all trying to understand how something so devastating could happen in a place that has given generations of families such happy memories.”
The park is an important part of the county's tourism and attracts visitors from all over the Southeast, Cupid noted.
The death would be at least the seventh at the Georgia park, including one in 2006 in which a man likely suffered a heart attack on the Goliath roller coaster, according to the Doan Law Firm, which tracks amusement park accidents and represents victims.
It also comes less than two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain, in Southern California, announced the retirement of its famous X2 roller coaster following reports of serious brain injuries caused by the ride.
The park settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the roller coaster in 2022.
Last year, a 32-year-old man died from blunt force impact injuries after riding a high-speed roller coaster at Universal Epic Universe theme park in Florida. His death was ruled accidental.
[Publicidad]