Six Flags closes multiple roller coasters similar to one linked to Georgia park death

The closures hit nine roller coasters at six of the corporation's amusement parks nationwide, according to reporting by the two news outlets. The newly shuttered coasters are similar to the one connected to the death at Six Flags Over Georgia. Park officials told the outlets that the closures were temporary and made "out of an abundance of caution."

Cobb County police said on Oct. 12 that a man died after falling off a roller coaster at the park outside Atlanta and several others were injured in the incident. Atlanta television stations WSB and 11 Alive reported that the man died after falling from the Goliath roller coaster at the park. WSB reported that four others were injured.

The man was ejected from his car, fell and hit the ride three times, 11 Alive reported, citing witnesses.

USA Today has reached out to the amusement park for further information on the closures, and to the Cobb County Police Department for information on the people injured and to confirm the death happened in connection with the Goliath roller coaster.

According to The New York Times, the rides that were closed were Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Illinois; Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California; Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey; Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario; Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina; Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island in Kings Island, Ohio.

Goliath is one of the premier roller coasters at the park in Georgia. According to Six Flags, the "hypercoaster" reaches a top speed of 70 mph and a maximum elevation of 200 feet. The ride opened in 2006.

Latest death at Six Flags Over Georgia

According to findings published by The Doan Law Firm injury attorneys, there have been at least eight deaths tied to Six Flags Over Georgia customers or employees.

The park opened in 1967, and the first death at the park came in 1989 when an 11-year-old boy became unresponsive after riding the park’s Z-Force rollercoaster. The cause of death was undetermined.

Three other deaths were related to the park’s roller coasters, according to the law firm's study. 

A groundskeeper walking below the park’s Batman: The Ride in 2002 was kicked in the head by a passing coaster rider and died. In 2006, a 45-year-old with a heart condition suffered a fatal heart attack while aboard the park’s Goliath ride. A 17-year-old was decapitated in 2008 after climbing into a restricted area underneath the tracks of the park’s Batman: The Ride roller coaster.

Other deaths at the park were associated with traffic accidents and one case of a bacterial infection suspected to have been sustained after using the park’s Hurricane Harbor wave pool in 2014.

Other deaths tied to coasters at Six Flags

In addition to the deaths in connection with rides at the Georgia Six Flags, at least 27 people have died in connection with other Six Flags rides and roller coasters around the country, according to the law firm’s findings.

Seven died in connection with rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Los Angeles. Five have died in connection with rides at Six Flags Great America in Illinois, most recently a 50-year-old who collapsed and died after getting off the Superman: Ultimate Flight roller coaster. At least four people died in connection with rides at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey between 1981 and 1987.

Among other deaths, an amputee Iraq War veteran suffered fatal injuries after he was thrown from the Ride of Steel at New York’s Six Flags Darien Lake in 2011, a 42-year-old woman died from a brain hemorrhage in 2001 after riding a Six Flags Discovery Kingdom spinning teacup ride in California and two died in connection with rides at Six Flags Over Texas, including a 52-year-old mother who plunged 75 feet to her death off of the New Texas Giant.