Six Flags closes Great America roller coaster after deadly accident in Georgia
Six Flags has shut down nine roller coasters in its parks across the country, including the Raging Bull in Gurnee, after one person died and several others were injured Monday at Six Flags Over Georgia.
The incident at Six Flags Over Georgia is under investigation by the Cobb County Police Department major crimes unit.
According to a Six Flags Entertainment Corporation spokesperson, attractions at parks similar to the one in Austell, Georgia, were closed “out of an abundance of caution.”
While park officials did not identify the roller coaster involved in the death, local TV stations showed video of passengers being evacuated from the Goliath. Despite the name, the Georgia coaster is not the same as the wooden Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. It is instead an all-steel “hyper coaster” — meaning it has a drop of at least 200 feet.
All nine of the coasters Six Flags is shutting down are also considered hyper coasters. Park officials have not said when the rides may reopen.
Raging Bull stands at 202 feet tall and more than 5,000 feet long, according to the Six Flags website. Introduced in 1999 and manufactured by the same company behind Georgia’s Goliath, the 300-second ride feels “just like a bull trying to shake you off his back,” the website states.
Beyond the Raging Bull, other rides shut down include another Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California; Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey; Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland in Ontario; Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in North Carolina; and Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island in Ohio.
The man killed in the Georgia incident was identified as 42-year-old Atlanta resident Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, according to Cobb County police.
Visitors at the theme park near Atlanta described watching the man being tossed from the coaster train and falling to his death.
“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company is providing support to guests and staff who were impacted.
Goliath, which was opened in 2006, reaches a top speed of 70 mph with a height of 200 feet, according to the park’s website. During about 3¹/₂ minutes, riders “navigate through razor-sharp turns and soar over colossal hills,” the website says.
Lisa Cupid, Cobb County Board of Commissioners chairwoman, said the next of kin of the rider killed have been notified.
“I cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today, and my heart aches for the family who lost a loved one,” Cupid said. “We are all grappling with how something so devastating could happen at a place that has given generations of families such happy memories.”
Other incidents
The death would be at least the seventh at the Georgia park, including one in 2006 in which a man had a likely heart attack on the Goliath coaster, according to the Doan Law Firm, which tallies 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 lawsuits alleging serious brain injuries caused by the ride. The park settled one wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022.
Raging Bull in Gurnee has been connected with at least one death. In 2003, an 11-year-old girl collapsed and later died after riding the coaster, although it was ultimately determined she had died from a heart condition. She had been seeing a cardiologist and had an enlarged heart, officials testified during a coroner’s inquest.
And in 2017, Superman: Ultimate Flight was temporarily shut down after a 50-year-old Chicago man collapsed after exiting the ride, later dying at a hospital of a “natural death,” according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
jstates@chicagotribune.com