Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, died Monday after falling from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. The fallout has reached at least 10 similar rides across six parks in the United States and Canada. Cobb County Police identified him Tuesday, and state regulators are reviewing whether the park followed every rule on the books.
What Police Say Happened
Around 4 p.m. Monday, officers found a man beneath the ride, “unresponsive and not breathing,” police said in a statement. “Preliminary information gathered through witness and employee interviews indicates Kariem was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction,” said the Cobb County Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit. Several people were injured. Police didn’t say how many or how badly.
Police didn’t name the coaster. Witnesses did. Aerial footage reviewed by CNN showed Goliath riders stopped at a steep incline before staff evacuated them down a high stairway.
A witness told CNN affiliate WXIA that Kariem “fell and hit the car three different times” before landing on the roof of a haunted house attraction below. CiCi Nelson, who was waiting in line, told CNN she saw a cart pull up with an empty seat and riders in hysterics. The safety bar on the empty seat looked loose, she said, and a young passenger appeared to be covered in blood.
Authorities haven’t determined what caused Kariem to fall. Detectives from the Major Crimes Unit are investigating and want to hear from anyone with information.
Regulators and the Operator Respond
The Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, which oversees safety inspections of amusement and carnival rides, has opened its own investigation. “Our investigative 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.
Six Flags said it’s cooperating with authorities. The company closed similar coasters as a precaution: a spokesperson said at least nine rides across several Six Flags parks in the US and Canada are temporarily shut, and a ride also closed at a former Six Flags park in Quebec. Several are hypercoasters, steel rides taller than 200 feet.
The company’s website says every ride undergoes “extensive inspection and maintenance procedures,” with park teams carrying out daily checks and third parties, including state ride inspectors, insurance inspectors and engineering experts, conducting regular evaluations. Six Flags Over Georgia is scheduled to reopen Friday. The Goliath will stay closed.
The Engineering Question
The Goliath is a hypercoaster that hits 70 mph and 200 feet, with a 170-foot initial drop, a 175-foot second drop and a 540-degree spiral, according to the park’s website. Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard built it. Brian Avery, a University of Florida professor who specializes in ride safety and risk management, said the company has a “stellar” safety record.
Avery still raised a design point. The Goliath has a waist restraint but no over-the-shoulder harness, a secondary restraint he thinks 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” and said it’s investigating, but it won’t comment further “until we have a better understanding of what transpired.”
The Man Behind the Headlines
Kariem worked as the IT manager, technology teacher and robotics coach at Wesley International Academy, a public charter school in Atlanta. Atlanta Public Schools called him a “cherished member” of the school. Executive Director Jason Marshall said the community is “devastated by the loss of Hassan Kariem,” known as “Mr. Kariem,” a colleague and friend for more than 12 years.
Former student Soledad Gomez said he “never got mad at us” and “was always patient with us.” He inspired her to study elementary education, she said, and her brother Juan Pablo Gomez is majoring in information technology after taking his class.
Kariem’s sister, Andrea Clark, 35, told the New York Post he’d been in remission from cancer since 2015. He’d also survived a car fire weeks before his death. “He’s healthy, he was able-bodied. I don’t understand it,” she said. She said he worked hard to provide for his family and helped raise his fiancée’s daughter. She also urged people to stop sharing images of his final moments. “That’s just evil,” she said.
Why This Matters:
The cause isn’t known yet. That’s the point. Investigators from Cobb County Police and the state insurance commissioner’s office need to establish facts before anyone assigns blame or writes new rules. Closing similar rides across six parks shows a private operator moving to protect riders before regulators demanded it, though customers will judge whether that precaution matches the risk. For an industry built on daily inspections, third-party evaluations and state oversight, the open question is whether those layers worked. If investigators find a restraint failure, expect pressure for design changes like the secondary harness Avery described. If they find the system functioned as designed, the debate shifts. Either way, the findings should drive any response, not the emotion of the moment. A family, a school and a community lost someone who gave twelve-plus years to their students.