“I can’t imagine the horror”: one dead and several injured in the United States on an amusement park roller coaster

A man died and several people were injured Monday on a roller coaster at an amusement park in Georgia, in the southern United States, according to local authorities.

An investigation is open to determine the precise circumstances of the accident, which occurred in the middle of the afternoon in the Six Flags Over Georgia park, said Cobb County police.

Several witnesses told 11Alive, a local Atlanta television station affiliated with the NBC network, that they saw the victim fall from the Goliath rollercoaster, hitting the ride several times.

One of them said that the man's fall was recorded in his souvenir photo taken on the attraction, one of twelve rollercoasters in the park. “I cannot imagine the horror that visitors and employees faced,” said County Executive Chairman Lisa Cupid, calling it a “terrible tragedy.”

Theme park operator Six Flags said it responded immediately and cooperated fully with investigators, saying it was “deeply saddened” by the accident, according to a spokesperson. The Goliath roller coaster can reach speeds of more than 110 km/h at a height of around sixty meters during laps of 3 and a half minutes, according to the Six Flags website.