Six Flags quietly removes dead man from title of Halloween event after roller coaster death

Six Flags has quietly removed ‘dead man’ from the title of one of its Halloween shows after a father was flung to his death during a fatal roller coaster accident.

Hassan Kariem, 42, was killed at the theme park in Austell, Georgia, on Monday, after he was thrown from his seat on the Goliath roller coaster in front of horrified passengers.

In the aftermath, Six Flags made a subtle change to one of the live entertainment experiences offered at Fright Fest, the theme park company’s annual Halloween event.

As Six Flags Over Georgia prepares to reopen on Friday, it notably dropped the words ‘dead man’ from Dr Fright’s Dead Man’s Party, a show ‘filled with energetic entertainment, larger-than-life characters and festive surprises.’

According to Six Flags Over Georgia’s website, it is now just called Dr Fright’s Party. The company also made the change at Six Flags Great Adventure, its amusement park in New Jersey.

Previous posts on Six Flags’s official blog about the show were also removed by the company.

Kariem, an education technology professional at Wesley International Academy, was at the park to celebrate the 13th birthday of his fiancée’s niece, according to his future brother-in-law, Joshua Nelson, who spoke to CNN.

‘His final moments and words were with her,’ said Nelson. ‘She called me crying after the ride ended stating Mr Hassan fell off the ride.’

Witnesses said he flew out of his seat and collided with the ride’s metal frame a number of times before falling to the ground, leaving several of them covered in his blood.

Images of Kariem falling over other passengers and flying head-first into the ride have since gone viral on social media. His family have pleaded with people to stop sharing the photos.

An investigation has been launched into how Kariem fell to his death.

As part of the investigation, state officials and Cobb County Major Crimes detectives are evaluating the coaster’s lap bar restraints, locking mechanisms and computerized safety sensors, Fox 5 reported.

A Six Flags spokesperson previously told the Daily Mail in a statement: ‘We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest’s family, friends and loved ones.

‘The park team and local authorities responded immediately, and we are cooperating fully with local authorities as they complete their investigation.’

The spokesperson said the park was providing support for anyone affected and would not be immediately commenting further ‘out of respect for the family’s privacy.’

Eleven roller coasters have closed across North America following Kariem’s death. The Goliath, which is the tallest roller coaster in Georgia, has been closed indefinitely. Six Flags has another version of the same roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California, which has been shut down as well.

‘Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed similar attractions across our parks. The safety of our guests and team members is our highest priority,’ Six Flags spokesperson Sara Gorgon said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

In addition, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has closed the following roller coasters: Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Illinois; Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey; Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland in Ontario; Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds in North Carolina and South Carolina; and Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island in Ohio.

Mako at SeaWorld Orlando has also been closed, according to WFTV.

Tina Christiansen and Emily Nguyen told the New York Post they were at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday afternoon and tried to get on the ride at around 1pm – but were told it was closed for maintenance.

‘They made an announcement over the intercom, first saying, “We’re experiencing delays,” and then a few minutes later, they said, “We’re waiting for maintenance to get here,”‘ Christiansen recounted.

They were then left waiting to get on the ride and saw an amusement park staffer doing ‘a couple of maintenance runs.’

‘One guy rode it and he was in the front row by himself,’ Nguyen said. ‘I remember us looking at each other, like, “You could not pay me enough to do that job.”‘

‘Like, yeah, it’s fun to ride roller coasters, but I wouldn’t want to be the one in charge of making sure that they work,’ she said. ‘We literally had that conversation.’

Witnesses to the gruesome incident on Monday have also said that the restraints on the roller coaster were making a ‘weird clicking’ noise – prompting park staff to check the restraints ‘multiple times’ before the car Kariem was in took off.

Logan Conner, a man on the same ride carriage as Kariem, said passengers made ‘direct eye contact’ with him as he fell head-first out of the roller coaster.

He described how Kariem ‘levitated’ briefly before he fell.