One killed, several injured in Georgia rollercoaster ‘incident’

Six Flags temporarily closes nine similar coasters after a fatal accident at its Georgia amusement park.

Riders throw their hands in the air as they ride Goliath, the newest rollercoaster at a Six Flags amusement park in the US [File: David Bohrer/Los Angeles Times via Getty]

A person has died and several others have been injured in an incident involving a rollercoaster at an amusement park in the state of Georgia in the United States.

The incident happened on Monday at the Six Flags amusement park, about 15 miles (24km) northwest of Atlanta.

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list 3 of 3 Man dies after fall from Six Flags rollercoaster in Georgia

Officials are investigating the death but have yet to confirm its nature or how the others were injured.

Images and videos have been circulating online that appear to show a man who seems to have been ejected from his seat and landed on the ground.

Al Jazeera has not independently verified the footage.

Six Flags has since closed nine rollercoasters at six of its parks “out of an abundance of caution”, a spokesperson said, adding that they are similar to the one involved in the incident.

Police and the company did not name the ride, but local TV footage showed passengers being escorted off the Goliath rollercoaster, which stopped halfway through the ride.

Witnesses also told local station 11Alive that they saw a man land on the roof of a haunted house attraction; those accounts have also not been verified.

Six Flags said it was “deeply saddened by the guest incident” and that it was supporting guests and staff affected.

Lisa Cupid, chairwoman of the Cobb County board of commissioners, said she “cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today”.

The Goliath rollercoaster opened in 2006 and reaches 70mph (113km/h) at a height of 200 feet (61 metres), according to the company’s website.

This marks at least the seventh death at the park, according to the Doan Law Firm, which tracks amusement park accidents. Earlier, one occurred on Goliath in 2006, after a man likely had a heart attack on the ride.

About two weeks ago, Six Flags Magic Mountain in California announced it would retire its X2 rollercoaster after more than 100 people reportedly sustained brain injuries while riding it.

The company said the ride had passed safety tests, but it was closing it regardless because it’s just the “right thing to do”.

佐治亚州六旗游乐园发生致命事故后，暂时关闭了九座类似的过山车。

游客们在乘坐美国六旗游乐园最新过山车“歌利亚”时，纷纷举起双手。[图片来源：David Bohrer/洛杉矶时报 via Getty]

美国佐治亚州一家游乐园的过山车发生事故，造成一人死亡，多人受伤。

事件发生在周一，地点位于亚特兰大西北约 24 公里（15 英里）处的六旗游乐园。

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3/3 男子从佐治亚州六旗游乐园过山车坠落后身亡

官方正在调查这起死亡事件，但尚未确认死因或其他人是如何受伤的。

网上流传的图片和视频显示，一名男子似乎被从座位上甩了出来，摔倒在地。

半岛电视台尚未独立核实该视频内容。

六旗集团发言人表示，出于“高度谨慎”，该集团已关闭旗下六个公园的九座过山车，并补充说，这些过山车与事故中涉及的过山车类似。

警方和公司没有透露事故游乐设施的名称，但当地电视台的画面显示，乘客被护送下“歌利亚”过山车，该过山车在运行到一半时停了下来。

目击者还告诉当地电视台 11Alive，他们看到一名男子降落在鬼屋景点的屋顶上；这些说法也尚未得到证实。

六旗表示对这起游客事件“深感悲痛”，并正在为受影响的游客和员工提供支持。

科布县委员会主席丽莎·丘比特表示，她“无法想象顾客和员工今天目睹的恐怖景象”。

据该公司网站介绍，歌利亚过山车于 2006 年开放，最高时速可达 70 英里/小时（113 公里/小时），高度为 200 英尺（61 米）。

据专门追踪游乐园事故的杜安律师事务所称，这至少是该游乐园发生的第七起死亡事故。此前，2006年曾发生过一起发生在“歌利亚”过山车上的死亡事故，一名男子很可能是在该游乐设施上突发心脏病身亡。

大约两周前，加利福尼亚州的六旗魔术山宣布将关闭其 X2 过山车，据报道，此前有 100 多人在乘坐该过山车时遭受脑损伤。

该公司表示，该游乐设施已通过安全测试，但仍然决定将其关闭，因为这是“应该做的”。