One person has died and several others were injured after an incident on a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, an amusement park in the US state of Georgia.

The Cobb County Police Department said it was investigating the incident at the park, about 15 miles (24km) from Atlanta, according to the BBC's news partner CBS.

The agency did not specify what ride was involved, but aerial footage from news helicopters showed the Goliath roller coaster stuck on the railway, with riders being helped off by workers.

Six Flags Over Georgia said it was "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."

Officials have not said how the person was killed. The BBC has contacted local police and fire authorities.

A park spokesperson said in a statement that its team and local authorities responded immediately, and they are cooperating on an investigation into the incident.

Six Flags is the largest amusement park operator in North America, operating 20 amusement parks, 14 water parks and nine resorts across Canada, the US and Mexico.

The incident comes just weeks after one of its parks in Southern California announced it would close its popular X2 roller coaster after more than 100 people alleged brain injuries from the ride.

Six Flags said the ride had passed a range of safety tests, but that it had decided to retire it because it was "the right thing to do".

Source: BBC

-Agencies