Horrified witnesses recount fatal rollercoaster incident at Six Flags

Warning: This article contains some graphic details

One person has died and others were injured after an incident on a rollercoaster at an amusement park in the US state of Georgia.

The Cobb County Police Department is investigating the fatality at Six Flags Over Georgia, about 15 miles (24km) from Atlanta, a local official confirmed.

The ride involved has not been specified but aerial footage from news helicopters showed the Goliath rollercoaster stopped midway, with riders being helped off by workers.

Horrified witnesses have told local media they saw a man ejected from the ride – something the BBC has not verified.

Six Flags said it was temporarily closing nine rides across the US and Canada as a precaution.

It said it was “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”.

Lisa Cupid, the chairwoman of Cobb County’s governing body, said police detectives with the local major crimes unit “are investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident”.

The man who died has been identified as Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, who lived in nearby Atlanta, the Cobb County Police Department told the BBC.

Details about how he died and how other riders were injured have not yet been released but the BBC has contacted local police and fire authorities, as well as park officials.

Local outlet 11 Alive quoted a witness saying Kariem had come loose from his seat and had then struck the rollercoaster and some of his fellow riders before falling onto the roof of a nearby haunted house attraction.

The incident was captured in souvenir photos that were automatically taken of the rollercoaster while it was in motion, the witness added.

A husband and wife, who were on the ride, also told 11 Alive thatKariem fell from the ride and was struck by it. They said workers at the park had checked their safety harnesses before the ride set off.

“We were having a great time and to just screaming ‘Oh my God, what is happening?’,” the woman said.

Another witness, CiCi Nelson, told CNN she was in line to ride Goliath when the rollercoaster returned and she saw an empty seat with a loose safety bar and a girl covered in blood.

Nelson described a scene of hysteria, adding that one man was “freaking out, saying someone fell off”.

Brittany Landry, who believes she saw the man ejected from the rollercoaster, told Fox News she was in tears.

“I broke because we were just on there,” Landry said.

A park spokesperson said in a statement that its team and local authorities had responded immediately and that they were co-operating on an investigation into the incident.

Mableton Mayor Michael Owens said the city’s public safety director was co-ordinating with local police and park security on the situation.

The Goliath ride opened in 2006, and it has an elevation of 200ft (60m), a 170ft plunge, a 540-degree spiral, and a speed of up to 70mph (112km/h), according to the park website. On its “thrill scale”, Six Flags ranks Goliath at level four out of five.

Six Flags is the largest amusement park operator in North America, with 20 amusement parks, 14 water parks and nine resorts across Canada, the US and Mexico.

The death in Georgia comes just weeks after one of Six Flags’ parks in southern California announced it would close the popular X2 roller coaster after more than 100 people alleged brain injuries from the ride.

Six Flags said that ride had passed a range of safety tests, but that it had decided to retire the attraction because it was “the right thing to do”.