One person killed, several injured in US roller coaster incident

Austell, Georgia: One person has died and several others were injured in an incident involving a roller coaster in Georgia, according to police.

The incident took place on Monday afternoon (US time) on the Goliath rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, about 25 kilometres north-west of Atlanta, according to the Cobb County Police Department.

Detectives with the department’s major crimes unit will investigate the incident.

Officials did not confirm how the person died or what caused the others to be injured.

Witnesses who spoke to NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta said they saw a man fall from the Goliath roller coaster, with at least two saying they saw him strike parts of the ride multiple times before hitting the ground.

“He fell and hit the car three different times,” one said, NBC reported.

“The man started levitating in the air sideways,” said another witness, Logan Conner, who was on the ride at the time. “We made direct eye contact with him.”

A Six Flags spokesperson said the park and local authorities responded immediately and that they were fully cooperating with local authorities as they investigated the incident.

“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” the spokesperson said.

Last month, Six Flags Magic Mountain, in southern California, announced that it was retiring its famous X2 roller coaster amid lawsuits alleging serious brain injury caused by the ride.

Six Flags recently settled a wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022, and three more lawsuits alleging traumatic brain injuries were filed last week.

Last year, a 32-year-old man died after riding a high-speed roller coaster at the Universal Epic Universe theme park in Florida. He died from blunt impact injuries and his death was ruled accidental.