Man killed on Six Flags' Goliath roller coaster latest deadly incident at Georgia theme park

An Atlanta Public School employee who died after being ejected from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday is the second person to have died on the ride in over 20 years, data reveals.

Witnesses at the park on Monday afternoon described watching the man fall out of his seat on Goliath, a hypercoaster that reaches 70 miles per hour and 200 feet high. Several other people were injured when the man struck them before falling beneath the coaster, police said. 

On Tuesday, police identified the man as 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, an IT manager at Atlanta charter school Wesley International Academy.

Cobb County police and the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire are actively investigating the indicent to ensure that the park was following all proper procedures, officials say. Authorities have not shared any details about how the man ended up leaving his seat.

In a statement to CBS News Atlanta, a spokesperson for Six Flags Over Georgia said the park's "thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest's family, friends, and loved ones."

"The park team and local authorities responded immediately, and we are cooperating fully with local authorities as they complete their investigation," the statement read in part.

The same day of the deadly incident, Six Flags said it has temporarily closed nine rides at six parks around the country, but did not specify which rides had been paused. The Georgia park was closed on Tuesday for a pre-scheduled non-operating day, officials said.

Previous deadly incidents at Six Flags Over Georgia

Kariem's death was the second connected to Goliath and eighth at the Cobb County park since 1989, data from Atlanta-based attorneys The Doan Law Firm said.

On July 27, 2006, a 45-year-old man was seen to be unresponsive as his train came back to the station after riding the coaster, which had opened earlier that year. The law firm said it appeared that he suffered a fatal heart attack while on the ride and that his death was believed to be due to a congenital heart condition.

The earliest death was reported on the park's now-closed Z-Force roller coaster in 1989. In that case, the law firm said that an 11-year-old boy became unconscious while riding the ride and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly afterward. The child's cause of death was undetermined. The ride was moved two years later to Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.

Other deaths at the park catalogued by the firm included:

• May 26, 2002: A 58-year-old groundskeeper walking underneath Batman: The Ride in a restricted area when he was hit in the head by one of the riders' legs. The rider was hospitalized and eventually released.
• June 28, 2008: A 17-year-old climbed two fences to get underneath the Batman: The Ride rollercoaster and was decapitated by a train.
• July 18, 2014: A 14-year-old girl became ill after spending time in the wave pool at Hurricane Harbor on May 29 and died at the hospital in July. The law firm reports that the teen had a bacterial infection and blood clot in her lungs that had been undetected.
• March 6, 2021: A 2-year-old boy was hit by a car driven by a relative in Six Flags Over Georgia's parking lot.
• Oct. 1, 2023: A 43-year-old woman fell out of a moving vehicle on an employee-only access road, suffering a head injury and dying, the law firm reported.

The Doan Law Firm said that Six Flags Over Georgia has reported the fourth-most deaths of the company's theme parks across the United States. Only Six Flags Great Adventure (13), Kings Island (10) and Magic Mountain (nine) have reported more.