One dead and several injured at Georgia Six Flags park

One rider died and several others were injured on 12 October after an incident involving a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, a theme park in Georgia near Atlanta. Cobb County police are investigating, while authorities had not identified the cause of the incident or explained how the rider died.¹²³⁵

Investigation under way

The incident occurred shortly before 4pm, according to CBS News. According to Cobb County police, multiple people suffered reported injuries and one individual was dead. The identity of the person who died had not been released, and officials had not confirmed which ride was involved, Associated Press reported.³⁵

Six Flags said its park team and local authorities responded immediately. The company said it was cooperating with local authorities as the investigation continued, and said it was providing support to affected guests and team members. A Mableton public safety official was coordinating with police and park security, according to reports.¹²⁴⁵

Reports concerning Goliath

Several reports linked the incident to Goliath, a roller coaster at the park. Television footage showed riders being evacuated from the ride, while CBS News Atlanta reported that guests were leaving its largest hill by an emergency stairway. However, officials had not publicly confirmed that Goliath was the ride involved.³⁵

The Guardian reported that a person had reportedly fallen from Goliath, but said this had not been confirmed by officials. The BBC likewise quoted witnesses who described a man being thrown from the coaster; one said he landed on the roof of a haunted-house attraction. Those accounts were not confirmed by authorities.¹²

Goliath opened in 2006, according to reporting by the BBC, Guardian and CBS News. Published descriptions of its height, drop and speed differ between outlets, including reports of speeds up to 70mph, so the park's specifications could not be independently established from the available accounts.¹²⁵

Separate questions over X2

The accident in Georgia comes as Six Flags has said it will permanently close X2, a different coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. The Guardian, BBC, Straits Times and CBS News reported that the closure followed litigation alleging brain injuries associated with X2, including claims involving more than 100 riders. These allegations concern a separate ride and are not stated by the reports to be connected to the Georgia incident.¹²⁴⁵

Six Flags said X2 had passed a multitude of safety tests and described retiring the coaster as “the right thing to do”, according to the BBC and Straits Times. The Guardian said Six Flags had resolved a wrongful-death case filed by relatives of a 22-year-old who died after riding the coaster in 2022.¹²⁴

Company response

In a statement, Six Flags Entertainment said: “We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today.” The company said its thoughts were with the dead rider's family, friends and loved ones, and that it was supporting affected guests and employees.⁴⁵