The Associated Press
Six Flags temporarily closed nine roller-coasters across six amusement parks on Monday after one person died and several others were injured in an incident involving a coaster in Georgia.
Officials did not confirm how the person died, nor how the others were injured or their medical conditions after the incident at Six Flags Over Georgia, about 24 kilometres northwest of Atlanta.
Cobb County Police Department major crimes unit detectives are investigating.
Attractions at the parks that are similar to the coaster in Austell, Georgia, were closed "out of an abundance of caution," according to a Six Flags Entertainment Corporation spokesperson, who said staff members and local authorities responded immediately and the park is co-operating with the investigation.
"We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today," the spokesperson said, adding that the company is providing support to guests and staff who were impacted.
CBC News has confirmed that the list of nine rides includes the Behemoth and Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, located north of Toronto. A park spokesperson said it did not have a timeline for when the rides might be available again.
Canada's Wonderland is open to the public for 12 more Halloween-themed evenings and weekends until it closes for the winter.
Authorities and Six Flags did not identify the roller-coaster at the Georgia location. However, local TV stations showed video of passengers being evacuated from the Goliath coaster.
WATCH | 1 dead, several injured in U.S. roller-coaster incident:
One person has died and several others were injured in an incident involving a Six Flags roller-coaster Monday afternoon in Georgia, according to police.
The roller-coaster, which was opened in 2006, reaches top speeds of about 113 km/h and heights of 61 metres, the park's website reports. During about 3½ minutes, riders "navigate through razor-sharp turns and soar over colossal hills," according to the website.
"I cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today, and my heart aches for the family who lost a loved one," Lisa Cupid, chair of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement. She added that next of kin have been notified.
The amusement park is a major part of the county's tourism and brings in visitors from across the southeast, Cupid said.
"We are all grappling with how something so devastating could happen at a place that has given generations of families such happy memories," she said.
This death would be at least the seventh at the Georgia park, including one in 2006 in which a man had a likely heart attack on the Goliath coaster, according to the Doan Law Firm, which focuses on amusement park accidents.
It also comes less than two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain, in Southern California, announced that it is retiring its famous X2 roller-coaster amid lawsuits alleging serious brain injury caused by the ride. The park had settled one wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022.
Last year, a 32-year-old man died after riding a high-speed roller-coaster at the Universal Epic Universe theme park in Florida. He died from blunt impact injuries, and his death was ruled accidental.
