ATLANTA – One person was killed and several others sustained injuries during a fatal incident on a high-speed rollercoaster at the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park, triggering a full-scale investigation by local authorities, BBC reported.
The Cobb County Police Department confirmed that emergency responders were dispatched to the park in Austell, located about 24 kilometers west of Atlanta, following reports of a severe casualty on the attraction on Monday.
While law enforcement officials have not officially named the specific attraction, news helicopter footage showed the park’s 200-foot-tall “Goliath” hypercoaster brought to a sudden halt midway through its track while park personnel assisted stranded riders off the ride.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a male passenger ejected from the speeding coaster train before plunging onto the roof of a nearby haunted house structure, though authorities have yet to verify the mechanism of the fall.
“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” a spokesperson for Six Flags Over Georgia said in an official statement, adding that park staff are fully cooperating with law enforcement and emergency response teams.
Mableton Mayor Michael Owens stated that the city’s public safety director is actively coordinating with local police investigators and park security officers to establish the sequence of events leading to the death.
The Goliath rollercoaster—which reaches speeds of up to 112 km/h and features a 170-foot drop—opened in 2006 and is classified by the park as a high-thrill attraction.
The tragedy comes just weeks after Six Flags announced the retirement of its X2 rollercoaster at its Southern California park following allegations of severe rider injuries, raising renewed safety questions surrounding North America’s largest amusement park operator.-MalayaDailyToday
