Six Flags Goliath: Mom says son’s restraint had issues on ride hour before man’s death

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother says her two children rode the Goliath roller coaster and experienced issues an hour before a man died on the ride.

Hassan Kariem, 42, died on Monday after his family says he was thrown from the ride and fell to his death. The Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner’s Office is investigating the circumstances around his death.

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Erica Billups posted on her X account that her son and daughter were on the ride an hour before Kariem’s death. She wrote that her son had an issue with his seat restraint. He ended up moving because his original seat’s restraint “kept locking then unlocking,” according to Billups.

The Georgia mother wrote the ride went up with the seat empty. She confirmed her posts to the Associated Press and told the news outlet that staff didn’t tell her kids there was a problem.

OTHER RIDERS’ ACCOUNTS OF WHAT HAPPENED AT SIX FLAGS

After Kariem was ejected from the ride, Six Flags Over Georgia stopped the ride and evacuated the other rides.

Ben Edwards was riding Goliath when the roller coaster made an emergency stop, leaving passengers stranded high above the ground.

“We just got stuck there,” Edwards told Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter.

Edwards and other riders told Channel 2 Action News it took more than an hour for those stranded on the ride to be rescued.

Conner Thompson was waiting to ride when he said he saw the coaster return to the station amid screams from passengers.

“As I looked at the train, I saw that there was a seat that was unlatched completely and people were yelling that someone had fallen out,” Thompson told Kleinpeter.