COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Witnesses say they have been haunted by the aftermath of a man falling from a ride at Six Flags Over Georgia.
Hassan Kariem, 42, was ejected from Goliath on Monday afternoon, hit several other riders and was pronounced dead after falling under the ride.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Channel 2’s Ashlyn Webb spoke to witnesses Caleb Sedam and Brandon Casper, for whom a day at Six Flags turned into more than an hour of fear and uncertainty.
They were riding Goliath, climbing the first hill.
“About two-thirds of the way up the hill, the train came to a sudden stop,” Sedam said.
At first, they assumed it was a mechanical issue.
RELATED STORIES:
- Six Flags death: Man survived car fire weeks before roller coaster death
- Six Flags death: Man who died falling from Goliath identified as father, educator
- 1 dead, 4 injured in Goliath ride incident at Six Flags Over Georgia
- Six Flags Goliath: What to know about the roller coaster at center of death investigation
- Six Flags rider says passengers were stranded high above the ground for over an hour
But high above the park, they could see employees rushing through the station and guests being evacuated. Then they noticed another train sitting partially in the station.
“That’s when we started to think, ‘Oh, something more is going on here,’” Sedam said.
Down below, Fred and Vanessa Sowemino had just stepped off Goliath when they heard a boy yelling.
“‘Man, I think I saw something fly. I think it was a body.’ I immediately was like, that can’t be true,” Vanessa Sowemino said.
Family friend Elicia Day says Kariem was a father, a husband, a longtime IT educator who saw the good in everything, even as he fought cancer.
She says Kareim and his daughter just survived a car fire three weeks ago.
“He survived so many things, and so losing this person is devastating,” Day said. “He was the person who always saw happiness through everything.”
It wasn’t until Sedam and Casper returned to the ground that they learned a man had fallen from the roller coaster and died.
“We were just moments away from being on that same train car as that gentleman, so horror and sadness,” Sedam said.
“The fact that it could have been us. It could’ve been anybody,” Vanessa Sowemino said.
The people we spoke with say they’re still processing what happened and don’t plan to visit an amusement park anytime soon.
They’re calling for a thorough investigation.
A Six Flags spokesperson told ABC News they were “deeply saddened by the guest incident” and offered “thoughts and heartfelt condolences.”
The spokesperson stated, “The park team and local authorities responded immediately, and we are cooperating fully with local authorities as they complete their investigation.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]