A married father died while riding a Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia with his son after witnesses said he suddenly “flew out” of his seat. The terrifying incident was reportedly captured in the ride’s official souvenir photos, which were available for purchase to fellow riders—some of whom said they were splattered with blood.
The unidentified man fell from the 200-foot Goliath coaster during its final drop Monday, just as the park’s cameras were taking photographs for riders to view and buy after the ride.
“He’s in our Goliath pictures,” one shaken witness told WXIA, referring to the images taken during the ride and sold afterward.
Unverified images circulating online reportedly show a man passing over other riders. 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 explained how the man came out of the coaster while seated beside his son. His wife and daughter were watching from the ground below.
Fellow rider Fred Sowemimo told NBC that the man’s safety belt appeared to have “dislodged,” causing him to “fly out” of the car.
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“You can see images of the person out of the seat,” Sowemimo said of the ride photographs. “You can see him on the girl in her row.”
The scene initially seemed so unbelievable that Sowemimo’s wife, Vanessa, said they thought it was a prank.
Logan Conner said he and his fiancée made direct eye contact with the rider as he appeared to “start levitating in the air sideways.”
Another passenger described the abrupt change from excitement to panic: “It went from having a great time to just 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 additional people at the Austell theme park were injured. Officials have not released details about the severity of those injuries.
Goliath, the tallest roller coaster in Georgia, was shut down as rescuers moved through the train row by row to get passengers out safely.
Riders were evacuated in groups of four using a stairwell along the side of the attraction.
In response to the tragedy, Six Flags temporarily closed nine roller coasters at six of its parks.