One dead, several injured in incident involving Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia

One person has died, and several others were injured in an incident involving a Six Flags roller coaster on Monday (Oct 12) afternoon in Georgia, according to police.

Officials did not confirm how the person died or what caused the others to be injured at Six Flags Over Georgia, about 24km northwest of Atlanta. Detectives will investigate the circumstances, according to the Cobb County Police Department.

A Six Flags spokesperson said the park and local authorities responded immediately and that they are fully cooperating with local authorities as they investigate.

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

Authorities and Six Flags did not identify the roller coaster. However, local TV stations showed video of passengers being evacuated from the Goliath coaster. 

The roller coaster, which was opened in 2006, goes as fast as 113kmh and reaches heights of 61m, the park's website reports. During about three-and-a-half minutes, riders "navigate through razor-sharp turns and soar over colossal hills", according to the website.

This death would be at least the seventh at the Georgia park, including one in 2006 in which a man had a likely heart attack on the Goliath coaster, according to the Doan Law Firm, whose practice areas include amusement park accidents.

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.