Six Flags is closing several rides across the U.S. and Canada \u2014 including the Goliath rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia \u2014 after a man died after falling from a roller coaster at one of its parks in Georgia. <\/p>\n
Park officials said Tuesday that the closures were out of an abundance of caution and were temporary.<\/p>\n
On Monday afternoon, Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, of Atlanta, was ejected from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia and struck other riders as he fell, the Cobb County Police Department said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Kariem landed beneath the roller coaster, where police officers found him just before 4 p.m., unconscious and not breathing. <\/p>\n
The police department\u2019s major crimes unit is investigating.<\/p>\n
Park officials closed the Goliath roller coaster after the fatal incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today, and my heart aches for the family who lost a loved one,\u201d Lisa N. Cupid, chairwoman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The park, in the Atlanta suburb of Austell, Ga., is \u201ca significant part of our tourism landscape, drawing visitors from across our county, our state, and the Southeast,\u201d Cupid wrote. <\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe are all grappling with how something so devastating could happen at a place that has given generations of families such happy memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six Flags announced this week that, in addition to the Goliath, it had closed the following similar rides:<\/p>\n
Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Ill.Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif.Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, N.J.Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada\u2019s Wonderland in Vaughan, OntarioFury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C.Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island in Kings Island, Ohio<\/p>\n
Six Flags celebrated the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Goliath roller coaster in Georgia earlier this year.<\/a> It is described on the park\u2019s website as \u201can intense 70-mile-per-hour thrill ride\u201d that reaches 200 feet in height. <\/p>\n The nationwide closures come weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain\u2019s famous X2 roller-coaster ride was permanently closed in September following a history of injuries, including some that led to deaths.<\/p>\n