Growing number of roller coasters across North America shut down after dads death at Georgia Six Flags

ATLANTA — A growing number of amusement parks have shut down roller coasters as police and state regulators investigate what caused a man to fall out of his seat and plummet to his death at a Georgia park.Sea World Orlando in Florida and La Ronde theme park in Montreal, Canada, confirmed on Thursday they had temporarily closed rides, bringing the total number of roller coasters halted to 11.Police and a state regulatory agency are investigating what caused Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old school employee from Atlanta, to fall from the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday.Witnesses described seeing him ejected from the coaster; some people who rode the Goliath before him that day said they had concerns about its restraints.Nine of the roller coasters taken out of service have the same manufacturer and a similar restraint system as the Goliath at Six Flags.Erica Billups said her son and daughter rode Goliath about an hour before Kariem’s death and encountered a problem with the restraint on one seat.Her son initially sat in that seat and tried to lock it, but then moved when it repeatedly became unlocked.The roller coaster embarked with the seat empty and the harness up, she said in a post on X.She confirmed the post in a text message to The Associated Press on Thursday.She said staff did not tell her kids there was a problem.Summer Bates, who was at the Georgia park with her husband and three children and saw Kariem fall, told the AP previously that her older two children kept trying to push their restraints down tighter while on the ride.

She understood why they were doing that later when she was on the coaster, she said, because the restraints didn’t feel secure.Six Flags did not immediately respond to an email for comment on any issues with restraints.La Ronde in Montreal said one of its coasters — also named Goliath — is offline “while we conduct a thorough safety review in collaboration with the ride’s manufacturer.” Sea Wor...