Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old IT manager, technology teacher and robotics coach at an Atlanta public charter school, died Monday after falling from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Cobb County Police identified him Tuesday. Now state regulators, police detectives and the ride’s manufacturer are trying to answer a question no theme park guest should have to ask: how does a rider come out of a seat?
Around 4 p.m. Monday, police found a man beneath a roller coaster, “unresponsive and not breathing.” The department’s Major Crimes Unit said preliminary information from witness and employee interviews indicates Kariem “was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction.” Police said several people were injured, but didn’t say how many or describe their conditions.
What Witnesses Saw
The accounts are harrowing. “He fell and hit the car three different times” before landing on the roof of a haunted house attraction below, a witness told CNN affiliate WXIA. Another told the station the falling man appeared in their souvenir ride photo. “He was in our pictures,” the witness said.
CiCi Nelson stood in line for the Goliath when a cart pulled up with an empty seat and riders in hysterics. She told CNN the safety bar on the empty seat looked loose, and a young passenger appeared covered in blood and injured. One man was “freaking out, saying someone fell off” and urging staff to call for help, Nelson said. Emergency crews arrived quickly. Nelson and others were told to evacuate. CNN reviewed aerial footage showing riders stopped on a steep incline, then evacuated down a high stairway.
The Restraint Question
The Goliath is a hypercoaster that hits 70 mph and 200 feet, according to the Six Flags website. Its first drop is 170 feet, followed by a 175-foot drop and a 540-degree spiral. Bolliger & Mabillard, a Swiss manufacturer with a “stellar” safety record, built the ride, according to Brian Avery, a University of Florida professor who specializes in ride safety and risk management.
Avery still raised a pointed concern. The Goliath uses a waist restraint but has no over-the-shoulder harness, the kind of secondary restraint some other coasters carry. He believes the option should be considered. “If you have your primary fail, what are you left with? Yeah, nothing,” he said. “And it’s an impossible feat to stay contained if it did fail, because of the forces, the speed.”
Bolliger & Mabillard called the accident “tragic,” offered condolences and said it’s investigating, but won’t offer further comment “until we have a better understanding of what transpired.”
Investigations and Closures
Authorities haven’t determined what caused Kariem to fall. Cobb County detectives are investigating and have asked anyone with information to come forward. The Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, which oversees safety inspections of amusement and carnival rides, has opened its own probe. Its team is conducting “an in-depth and comprehensive review to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and to ensure full compliance with all applicable policies and procedures,” the agency said Tuesday.
At least 10 similar rides across six parks in the US and Canada have temporarily closed while investigators work. A park spokesperson said at least nine rides across several Six Flags parks have been shuttered, and a ride at a former Six Flags park in Quebec was also closed. Several are hypercoasters. Six Flags said it’s cooperating with authorities and closed the rides as a precaution.
The company says every ride “undergoes extensive inspection and maintenance procedures,” with daily checks by park teams and regular evaluations by third parties, including state ride inspectors, insurance inspectors and engineering experts. Six Flags Over Georgia will reopen Friday as scheduled, a spokesperson told CNN. The Goliath will stay closed for now.
A Teacher Remembered
Atlanta Public Schools called Kariem a “cherished member” of Wesley International Academy, the public charter school where he worked, and said his “presence and impact will be deeply missed by our students, staff, and all those whose lives he touched.” Executive Director Jason Marshall told CNN affiliate WANF the school community is “devastated by the loss of Hassan Kariem, affectionately known as Mr. Kariem, who was a beloved colleague, friend, and integral part of the Wesley family for more than 12 years.”
Former students remember a patient teacher. “He never got mad at us ... He was always patient with us. He would joke with us,” Soledad Gomez, who had Kariem as her computer lab teacher, told WANF. She said he inspired her to pursue a degree in elementary education. Her brother, Juan Pablo Gomez, said Kariem’s class sparked his interest in information technology, now his major.
Kariem’s sister, Andrea Clark, 35, told the New York Post her brother had been in remission from cancer since 2015 and had survived a car fire just weeks before his death. “He’s an amazing person,” she said through tears. “The coolest part about me was him.” She called him “my hero” and his death “unfair.” “He had other issues, but he’s healthy, he was able-bodied. I don’t understand it,” she said. Clark said he worked hard to provide for his family and helped raise his fiancée’s daughter, whom he’d known since she was 3. “He could do it all,” she said.
Clark also asked people to stop sharing images of her brother’s final moments. “That’s just evil,” she said. “It’s tragic, and I feel like we’ve gone too far as a society.”
Why This Matters:
A public school teacher who spent more than 12 years shaping students’ lives, and who had been in remission from cancer for 11 years, died on a ride sold as family entertainment. That alone demands answers. The case also puts a spotlight on how much amusement park safety relies on company self-reporting and a handful of inspectors. Georgia’s insurance and fire safety agency now has to determine whether the Goliath’s design, maintenance and restraint system met every standard. Avery’s point about the lack of a secondary restraint raises a broader question: has industry practice kept pace with the forces riders face? The closure of at least 10 similar rides across six parks suggests the concern may extend well beyond one coaster. Families deserve transparent findings, not just condolence statements.