Family plead for viral death photos to be deleted as Six Flags closes nine rides across North America
Hassan Kariem, the IT professional and father of two who died on Monday after falling from the Goliath coaster while his wife and daughter watched from the ground below.Footage of the man falling from the Goliath roller coaster, which would rank as at least the seventh fatality on record at Six Flags Over Georgia.Riders and staff on the Goliath hypercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, where a father fell to his death from the 200ft ride while his young son sat strapped in beside him.Hassan Kariem with his wife, whose family described his death as a "terrible shock" and said they "just want to know what happened.
Hassan Kariem, 42, a two-time lymphoma survivor and technology teacher at Wesley International Academy in Atlanta, was thrown from the 200-foot Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday, hitting other riders and the ride's frame repeatedly before coming to rest behind a Halloween haunted house attraction. His wife witnessed his fall from the ground, and four other park visitors were hospitalised. Graphic photographs of his final moments circulated rapidly across social media, and his family are now urgently trying to trace whoever first took them.
Kariem had beaten cancer twice, survived a Covid hospitalisation, and come through a vehicle fire shortly before his death — an incident that destroyed his car but left him and his 10-year-old stepdaughter unharmed.
Six Flags temporarily shut nine coasters of the same model across North America, all manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, which has opened an active investigation into the incident.
Andrea Clark, 35, his sister, spoke to reporters in tears: 'The coolest part about me was him' — saying she could not fathom how he had endured so much only to die in this way.
