{"id":227601,"date":"2026-10-15T07:50:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/georgia-police-identify-man-who-fatally-fell-off-six-flags-roller-coaster-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T07:50:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:50:57","slug":"georgia-police-identify-man-who-fatally-fell-off-six-flags-roller-coaster-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/georgia-police-identify-man-who-fatally-fell-off-six-flags-roller-coaster-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia police identify man who fatally fell off Six Flags roller coaster – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Georgia police on Tuesday identified the 42-year-old who died after being ejected from a Six Flags roller coaster outside Atlanta.
The Cobb County Police Department said the incident, which occurred Monday at about 4 p.m. at Six Flags Over Georgia, also left several injured.
Preliminary findings from witness and employee interviews indicate that Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem was \u201cejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction.\u201d
When officers arrived at the scene, Kariem was found unresponsive and beneath the ride.
\u201cInvestigators continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident,\u201d the police statement said.
Several others were injured, according to officials, but it is unclear how many. The department\u2019s Major Crimes Unit is investigating.
Atlanta Public Schools said in a statement that Kariem was a \u201cmember of its community\u201d at the Wesley International Academy, an Atlanta public charter school for kindergarten through eighth grade. It is unclear whether Kariem was a teacher, and the district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The school\u2019s leadership shared a letter with NBC News that it sent to families.
\u201cWe know this news is heartbreaking and difficult to process. Mr. Kariem was a valued member of our Wesley family, and his loss will be deeply felt throughout our school community,\u201d the letter said. \u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, colleagues, students, and all those whose lives he touched.\u201d
Witnesses who spoke to NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta <\/a>said they saw Kariem fall from the Goliath roller coaster, and at least two people said they saw him strike parts of the ride before he hit the ground.
\u201cHe fell and hit the car three different times,\u201d a witness told the station.
The witness said that the falling man was captured in their souvenir picture taken during the ride.
He added that Kariem\u2019s body hit others on the ride before falling onto the roof of a haunted house attraction below.
Another witness told WXIA that Kariem was on the ride with a young boy who appeared to be his son, while a woman who appeared to be his wife and a young girl watched from the ground.
A third witness told WXIA that he and his wife saw Kariem ejected from his car and bounce off the coaster three times.
\u201cWe saw it all,\u201d the man said. \u201cWe were having a great time and just screaming, \u2018Oh my God, what is happening?\u2019\u201d the woman said.
A park spokesperson said in a statement that it was \u201cdeeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today.\u201d
\u201cOur thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest\u2019s family, friends, and loved ones,\u201d the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the park was supporting guests and employees and that details would not be released immediately \u201cout of respect for the family\u2019s privacy.\u201d
Logan Conner said he was on the ride with his fianc\u00e9 when he saw Kariem come out of his seat on Goliath.
\u201cThe man started levitating in the air sideways,\u201d he said. \u201cWe made direct eye contact with him.\u201d
Nicholas Mendenhall told the \u201cTODAY\u201d show<\/a> he rode the roller coaster with his son 10 minutes prior to the incident.
\u201cHe came up out of his car, he was in his seat, and went forward and just came down headfirst,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was in slow motion. And there was a moment where I was like, \u2018God just let this man stay in that cart.\u2019 It all happened so fast.\u201d
Video showed riders exiting the roller coaster after it paused mid-ride and were forced to walk down a steep incline.
Goliath, designed and built by Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers of Switzerland, opened in 2006<\/a> and features a drop of more than 200 feet and speeds of at least 70 mph, which places it in the category of a hyper coaster<\/a>.
A Six Flags spokesperson said by email Monday night that it has temporarily closed nine similar rides at the company\u2019s other North American locations \u201cout of an abundance of caution.\u201d
Father describes fatal roller coaster incident
Those rides include Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America; Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain; Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure; Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada\u2019s Wonderland; Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds; and Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island, the spokesperson said.
The company did not provide any more details on when the rides will reopen.
In September, Six Flags was named in multiple lawsuits<\/a> after riders alleged they suffered brain injuries on the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California. It includes 360-degree rotating seats, a 215-foot drop and sudden flips and rotations.
That coaster has been closed since July 12, a day after attorney Christopher Bulone said one of the plaintiffs suffered catastrophic brain injury after a ride.
Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding said in a Sept. 29 statement<\/a> that X2 was being retired because \u201cit\u2019s the right thing to do\u201d after guest confidence in its safety was affected.
Six Flags Over Georgia is about 10 miles west of downtown Atlanta.
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
I\u2019m a reporter on NBC News\u2019 breaking news team, covering crime, extreme weather, pop culture and more. I recently covered Hurricane Milton, which devastated the Tampa, Florida, metropolitan area, and the student-led protests at Columbia University.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeGeorgia police on Tuesday identified the 42-year-old who died after being ejected from a Six Flags roller coaster outside Atlanta.The Cobb County Police Department said the incident, which occurred Monday at about 4 p.m. at Six Flags Over Georgia, also left several injured.Preliminary findings from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}