A fatal accident at Six Flags Over Georgia has led the company to idle nine roller coasters across North America while investigators try to work out what went wrong. On 12 October, 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem was ejected from Goliath, a 200-foot coaster that hits 70 mph, struck other guests and fell beneath the ride. Several other people were hurt; police have not detailed their injuries.
Kariem, an IT manager and former teacher at an Atlanta charter school, was thrown from the train on the ride's final turn. One witness told the Associated Press he appeared to hover above the car before falling back in and being ejected; another said lap bars on an earlier ride that day had not felt secure. Those accounts are now central questions for investigators, though nothing has been confirmed about a restraint failure.
As a precaution, Six Flags closed nine similar coasters at six parks. The list: Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Illinois, Behemoth and Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland in Ontario, Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in North Carolina, and Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island in Ohio. Eight were built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, which says it is investigating. There is no reopening timetable, and the closures do not imply the rides are defective. Separately, La Ronde in Montreal shut its own Goliath for review — that one isn't counted in Six Flags' nine.
The incident lands amid wider debate about who actually regulates theme park rides in the US. Federal oversight is limited; most fixed-site attractions are policed at state level, and rules vary wildly. California folds ride checks into its workplace-safety system, while Florida exempts its biggest parks from state inspections entirely and trusts their internal programs. Senator Ed Markey has repeatedly pushed to expand federal authority. Industry injury data offers some context: IAAPA logged 1.27 serious injuries per million coaster rides in North America in 2024, up from 0.88 the year before, across roughly 1.92 billion rides.
Georgia's insurance and safety fire commissioner said state inspectors had checked every park ride before the season and are now doing a full on-site review, with Cobb County police running a parallel investigation. Six Flags Over Georgia reopened on 16 October, but Goliath stays shut indefinitely.
Why it matters to travellers: if a theme park trip is on your calendar, check the park's ride list before you go — some headline coasters may be closed with no warning. It's also a reminder that US park safety rules depend on which state you're in, not a single national standard. Anyone with a trip to a Six Flags park, Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds or Kings Island should watch for updates from the manufacturer's investigation, which will likely decide whether the shutdowns spread or lift.
