Six Flags Over Georgia adding seatbelts to Goliath after man dies riding roller coaster

by Atlanta First News staff

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Six Flags Over Georgia is planning to add seatbelts to Goliath after a man was killed after falling out of the ride’s restraint, according to the chain’s president.

“We are reinforcing safety precautions at our parks and taking additional measures, including adding seat belts on Goliath and other coasters with a similar restraint,” president and CEO John Reilly wrote.

Goliath is one of nine B&M hypercoasters in the Six Flags chain. Six of the coasters have seatbelts in addition to clamshell-style lap-bar restraints. Three, including Goliath, do not.

The other six had seatbelts either when the coasters opened or had seatbelts installed in the mid 2010s.

All nine remain closed, although similar models at other parks remain open.

Hassan Kariem, 42, was killed Oct. 12 after being ejected from Goliath, hitting and injuring several other patrons before the fall, according to Cobb County police. The other patrons injured in the incident were all minors.

The Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner launched a joint inquiry with county police to determine what caused the ejection.

“I assure you that we are not going to leave any stone unturned,” Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King said. “This is the most serious investigation that we’ve conducted in quite a long time, and we’re going to treat it as such.”

The safety of Six Flags rides had already come under fire this summer, after a CNN investigation reported how X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain had been linked to more than a dozen serious brain injuries, hospitalizations and deaths.

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