Six Flags temporarily closed nine attractions at six of its parks after a man died after falling from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday, the company said. The man fell from his seat on Goliath, a hypermountain that reaches 70 miles per hour and 200 feet high, witnesses said. Several other people were injured in the incident, police said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed similar attractions at our parks,” a Six Flags spokesperson said Monday. “The safety of our guests and team members remains one of our top priorities.” Six Flags did not specify which attractions were on pause, but CBS News Philadelphia reported that the Nitro roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey, was among the closed attractions. Six Flags Over Georgia was closed Tuesday for a scheduled day of non-operation, the company said. Police identified the man who died Monday as 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem of Atlanta. One witness described seeing the man “get straight out of his seat.” “It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion,” said Nick Mendenhall, who had ridden Goliath a few minutes earlier with his teenage son. “It was just surreal to see this happen.” Six Flags said it is “deeply saddened” by the incident and is fully cooperating with authorities. The incident comes two weeks after Six Flags permanently closed its X2 roller coaster at Magic Mountain in Southern California amid multiple lawsuits alleging the ride caused serious brain injuries. Six Flags declined to comment on pending litigation. An investigation is underway in Georgia to determine what happened on Monday. Brian Avery, a law and risk professor at the University of Florida, said investigators will analyze video footage, maintenance records and statements from witnesses and ride attendants. “These are all clues to get to the root cause and try to get to a real understanding of why this may have happened,” he said. Avery said the chances of being in an incident involving a roller coaster are very low, but added that he hopes to see some federal oversight of safety standards for attractions. “We need uniformity in our standards and we need to understand how each park works so that they operate by the same book, so to speak,” he said. Somitra Butalia contributed to this report. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press
