Six Flags Magic Mountain shuts down second coaster amid safety concerns, rider death in Georgia – Los Angeles Times

Six Flags Magic Mountain shuts down second coaster amid safety concerns, rider death in Georgia  Los Angeles Times

Six Flags is closing several attractions across the U.S. and Canada — including the Goliath roller coaster at Magic Mountain in Valencia — after a man fell to his death from a ride at one of its parks in Georgia. Officials said the temporary closures were "out of an abundance of caution." On Monday afternoon, Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, of Atlanta, was ejected from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia and struck other riders as he fell, the Cobb County Police Department said in a statement. Kariem landed beneath the roller coaster, where police officers found him just before 4 p.m., unconscious and not breathing. The Police Department's major crimes unit is investigating.

Park officials closed the Goliath roller coaster at the Georgia park and similar attractions at its other locations after the fatal incident. Six Flags did not confirm whether Kariem fell from the Goliath, but Georgia television news stations aired video of passengers being evacuated from the ride Monday afternoon. One rider told Atlanta NBC affiliate 11Alive that Kariem's fall was captured in rider souvenir photographs that are automatically taken as their train passes. "He was in our pictures," the unnamed person told the news station. "He fell and hit the car three different times." Kariem was an information technology manager at Wesley International Academy,