A married father died after being thrown from a Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia while riding with his son. The terrifying incident was captured in the park’s official souvenir photographs, which were available for purchase by fellow riders—some of whom were reportedly splashed with blood.
The unidentified man fell from the 200-foot Goliath coaster during its final drop on Monday, at the same moment the ride’s cameras took photographs for guests to view and buy after the ride.
“He’s in our Goliath pictures,” a shocked witness told WXIA, referring to the images “that they take and that you keep.”
Unverified photographs circulating online appear to show the man passing over other passengers. Witnesses said he struck the coaster car several times before falling onto a haunted house attraction below.
“He hit a girl two rows in front of us on the Goliath ride right where the pictures are taken,” another passenger told WXIA.
“His blood splattered over everybody, and his body fell behind one of the haunted attractions,” she said.
Authorities have not said what caused the man to fall from the ride. He had been seated beside his son, while his wife and daughter watched from the ground below.
Fellow passenger Fred Sowemimo said it appeared the man’s safety belt had “dislodged,” causing him to “fly out,” NBC reported.
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“You can see images of the person out of the seat,” Sowemimo said of the ride photos. “You can see him on the girl on her row.”
The scene was so unexpected that Sowemimo and his wife initially believed it was a prank. “We initially thought it was a prank,” Vanessa Sowemimo said.
Logan Conner said he and his fiancée made direct eye contact with the rider as he “started levitating in the air sideways.”
Another passenger said the ride abruptly shifted from excitement to panic, with people screaming, “Oh my God, what is happening.”
“You don’t see things like this happen. It should never happen,” said a woman who was riding with her husband.
Four other people at the Austell theme park were injured in the incident. Officials have not disclosed the severity of those injuries.
The Goliath, Georgia’s tallest roller coaster, was shut down as rescuers moved through the ride one row at a time to bring passengers to safety.
Riders were evacuated in groups of four using a stairwell along the side of the attraction.
Following the tragedy, Six Flags temporarily closed nine roller coasters at six of its parks.
