Canada’s Wonderland shuts down two roller coasters after deadly Georgia Six Flags incident

Canada’s Wonderland has shut down two of its biggest rides after a man in the United States reportedly fell to his death from a roller coaster at a Six Flags theme park in Georgia.

Police say the Atlanta man was thrown from his seat, and now similar attractions have been temporarily closed across parks in the U.S. and Canada.

It was a horrifying scene at a Six Flags amusement park in Georgia yesterday. A 42-year-old man was reportedly thrown from his seat while riding the Goliath roller coaster.

“Two of my children had just been on that ride, maybe 20 minutes before,” one witness said.

 “We saw mechanics and paramedics running towards down there, so we realized that there was something bad that happened,” said another witness.

Police say the man struck other people on the ride before falling to his death. Others on the ride were evacuated and climbed down emergency stairs.

Goliath is the park’s tallest coaster, towering over its entrance at 61 metres and reaching top speeds of 112 kilometres per hour.

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Canada’s Wonderland, which is owned by Six Flags, confirmed its Leviathan and Behemoth mega-coasters have been shut down.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed similar attractions across our parks,” a spokesperson for Canada’s Wonderland said in a statement to CHCH News. “The safety of our guests and team members remains one of our highest priorities.”

In Montreal, amusement park La Ronde has shut down its Goliath coaster.

“For more than 20 years, Goliath has been a beloved attraction at La Ronde, safely carrying guests on millions of rides,” a spokesperson from La Ronde told CHCH News. “It will not reopen until this review is complete and we are fully satisfied that it can be operated safely.”

Doug Perovic, a professor who teaches forensic engineering at the University of Toronto, said it is important to shut down similar coasters until the investigation in Georgia is complete, but noted that tragic roller coaster accidents are rare.

“The first ones that you definitely want to shut down are all the ones of the same design,” Perovic said. “That means when you have a problem like this, and the same thing happens with aircraft, you basically ground the fleet. Is there a systemic problem here for coasters in general? People need to know that.”

In total, Six Flags has temporarily closed nine roller coasters across the U.S. and Canada.

Canada’s Wonderland says they do not have a timeline for reopening.

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