Roller Coasters Halted Across North America Following Fatal Fall at Six Flags
At least 11 rides are temporarily closed as investigations continue into the incident that killed a man at Six Flags Over Georgia.
A growing number of amusement parks have temporarily shut down roller coasters as police and state regulators investigate the death of a man who fell from a ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. At least 11 roller coasters have been taken out of service, with multiple parks citing safety reviews and collaborations with ride manufacturers.
SeaWorld Orlando in Florida and La Ronde theme park in Montreal, Canada, confirmed on Thursday they had temporarily closed rides. The investigation centers on the death of Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old school employee from Atlanta, who fell from the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday.
Witnesses described seeing Kariem ejected from the coaster, and some patrons who rode Goliath earlier that day reported concerns about its restraints. Nine of the roller coasters that have been halted share the same manufacturer and a similar restraint system as the Goliath ride.
One rider's mother, Erica Billups, stated that the restraint on one of the seats her son and daughter occupied approximately an hour before Kariem's death repeatedly became unlocked. Her son initially sat in the seat but moved when the restraint failed to stay locked, and the coaster departed with the seat empty and the harness up, she reported on social media.
La Ronde stated its Goliath coaster is offline for a thorough safety review in collaboration with the ride's manufacturer. SeaWorld Orlando closed its Mako roller coaster with no set reopening date. Both of these rides were manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the same Swiss company that built the Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia and eight other coasters that Six Flags closed.
Bolliger & Mabillard has declined to comment on the shutdowns pending a better understanding of the incident. Six Flags Over Georgia is set to reopen on Friday, though the Goliath coaster is not expected to be operational.
Previous legal troubles for Six Flags include a class-action lawsuit filed by investors in 2025 alleging the company concealed poor park conditions and deferred maintenance before its merger with Cedar Fair. An attorney who represented the family of a man who died on a different Six Flags roller coaster in 2022 noted that the company has previously blamed passengers or alleged pre-existing conditions for ride-related injuries, rather than conducting thorough investigations into the rides themselves.