A 42-year-old man killed while riding a rollercoaster at Six Flags over Georgia theme park in the US was thrown from his seat and struck other patrons before landing below the ride, police said.
Visitors to the Atlanta-area park watched in horror as he fell out of the rollercoaster on Monday, prompting Six Flags to temporarily close nine similar rides nationwide.
Investigators and park officials have not said how he ended up coming out of his seat.
“It was horrific to watch,” said Summer Bates, who was at the park with her husband and three children.
“One thing I think that will stick with us is the sound of his body coming down.”
Ms Bates said she and her family rode the Goliath roller coaster earlier in the day.
The park’s tallest rollercoaster, which towers over its entrance at 200 feet (61 metres), has lap bar restraints that pull down over the riders’ legs and waist.
There are no seat belts.
“My older two children rode on the cart ahead of us,” she said.
“I noticed they kept trying to push theirs down tighter. I assured them that they were OK.
“But once my husband, youngest child and I loaded our cart and headed up the incline, I quickly understood why my older two were messing with theirs.
“It just didn’t feel secure and tight.”
The man who died was 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, according to Cobb County police.
Officials have not released any other information about those who were injured when they were struck by the man.
Mr Kariem worked as the information technology manager at a public charter school in Atlanta and before that was the school’s technology teacher, according to an online resume.
Logan Conner said he was on Goliath with his fiancee when he saw the man come out of his seat.
“The man started levitating in the air sideways,” he told NBC.
“We made direct eye contact with him.”
Britny Landry had been on the ride earlier on Monday and was waiting in line to go again.
“We just look, and I just see somebody fly out,” she told WAGA-TV.
She said she was not sure at first what she saw.
“Maybe somebody had a bag or something.”
The park in Mableton, just north-west of Atlanta, already was scheduled to be closed on Tuesday.
One of Goliath’s other trains could be seen on the ride’s first hill on Tuesday, seemingly where it stopped after the man fall from another train.
Six Flags Entertainment Corp said it temporarily shut down nine similar rollercoasters at six of its theme parks in the US and Canada. T
hose parks were already scheduled for seasonal midweek closures on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The rides that were closed included a second rollercoaster named Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California; Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Illinois; Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey; Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in North Carolina; and the rides Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland in Ontario, Canada.
Six Flags did not immediately respond on Tuesday to questions asking why those specific rides were shut down or what would be done before they reopen.
Georgia’s Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, which oversees ride inspections, is “conducting an in‑depth and comprehensive review”, said Garrison Bennett, a spokesman.
Bolliger & Mabillard, the Swiss company that manufactured the rollercoaster and many others worldwide, said it is “actively investigating the incident and will not comment further until we have a better understanding of what happened”.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic accident,” the company said in a statement.
“Our thoughts are with the family and those affected.”
Operating for two decades in Georgia, the Swiss-designed Goliath uses a steep drop to reach top speeds of 70 mph (112 kph) — focusing on sheer velocity and downhill plunges rather than turning riders upside down through loops or corkscrews.
It is far from the world’s tallest or fastest rollercoaster.
