Man dies after falling off roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, police and witnesses say

By Avni Trivedi, Mark Morales, CNN

Atlanta (CNN) — A man has died at Six Flags Over Georgia, police said, with witnesses telling CNN affiliate WXIA they watched him fall off a roller coaster.

Several others were injured, Cobb County police said.

One witness told WXIA the falling man was captured on his souvenir picture taken while on the Goliath ride, one of a dozen roller coasters at the Atlanta-area amusement park.

The 210-second ride reaches a top speed of 70 mph and an elevation of 200 feet, according to the Six Flags website.

Similar attractions at sister parks across the country have been temporarily closed “out of an abundance of caution,” a park spokesperson said Monday evening.

Six Flags Over Georgia addressed the incident in a statement, saying: “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.”

The Georgia theme park, which is about 10 miles west of downtown Atlanta, was already scheduled to be closed Tuesday, the spokesperson added. It operates on weekends in October but was open Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.

Other riders were being evacuated from the roller coaster, aerial video from WXIA showed.

Rahim Hakmati, a Six Flags Over Georgia season ticket holder, told CNN he arrived at the park just as large groups of people were leaving. Hakmati said he heard someone say a person had fallen off Goliath. When he approached the ride, he saw security directing people away from the roller coaster, which had stopped on the lift hill.

Eventually, he and other guests were moved 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.

Two other rides at Six Flags theme parks in the US share the name Goliath: Six Flags Great America in Illinois and Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. All three roller coasters were built by different manufacturers.

The Goliath roller coasters at the Georgia and California theme parks are categorized as “hyper coasters.” These steel roller coasters are generally over 200 feet tall and “prioritize air time and speed over inversions,” according to the Six Flags website.

The death comes nearly two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain in California announced it would permanently close its world-famous ride X2, following a CNN investigation that exposed a long history of life-altering injuries and deaths linked to the roller coaster.

Six Flags Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding wrote in a blog post that while the X2 roller coaster has “consistently passed a multitude of safety tests, we have decided to close the ride because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”

He added, “Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business, and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously.”

Allegations that the Southern California thrill ride injured riders date back more than a decade, but had been largely kept under wraps until CNN’s investigation this summer revealed more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalizations associated with the ride, including at least two deaths. Most recently, two women ended up in the same Santa Clarita emergency room with brain injuries after riding X2 just six days apart in July.

In 2024, Six Flags merged with Cedar Fairs, making it the largest amusement park operator in the United States.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.