No one expects a happy family outing to an amusement park to end with a family member dead from one of the rides, but that’s exactly what happened on Friday at Six Flags Over Texas. Authorities from the park and the government are investigating the cause of a tragic accident where a rider was thrown from the Texas Giant Roller coaster and killed.

According to witnesses, the riders who died was concerned that she wasn’t secure before the ride began. She was seated next to her adult son. The Texas Giant secures passengers with metal bars, but not straps. According to another passenger, an employee dismissed the woman’s concerns. “He was like, ‘As long as you heard it click, you’re fine,'” the person behind her in line told the Dallas Morning News.

Paramedics arrived immediately, but had trouble finding the victim. While Six Flags did shut down the ride and that area of the park, they didn’t tell guests what had happened. Word of mouth took care of that, and some park visitors posted on Twitter after they witnessed or heard about the accident. Of course.

The Texas Giant is a wooden coaster with a steel track that boasts the steepest drop of any wooden roller coaster in the United States. It’s about 14 stories at the highest point.

Family identifies Dallas resident who was victim of Texas Giant accident [Dallas Morning News]
Family identifies woman killed on Six Flags ride [WFAA]

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