Six Flags to shut down famous roller coaster after investigation into injuries, deaths linked to ride

CNN —

Six Flags announced Tuesday it will permanently shutter its most famous roller coaster, roughly a month after a CNN investigation exposed a long history of life-altering injuries and deaths linked to the ride.

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Six Flags Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding wrote in a blog post Tuesday that while its X2 roller coaster has “consistently passed a multitude of safety tests, we have decided to close the ride because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”

He added, “Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business, and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously.”

Allegations that the roller coaster has injured riders date back more than a decade but had been largely kept under wraps until CNN’s investigation last month, which documented more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalizations associated with the ride, including at least two deaths. Most recently, two women ended up in the same Santa Clarita emergency room with brain injuries after riding X2 just six days apart in July.

The ride had been temporarily closed a day after the second woman’s injury.

Last week, attorneys suing the park said more than 100 people claimed they suffered brain injuries from the roller coaster in the last two years alone.

X2, the marquee attraction at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California for nearly two decades, has long drawn roller coaster enthusiasts from around the world for its so-called 4th-dimensional quality — featuring seats that rotate 360 degrees around the track as trains reach speeds of nearly 80 miles per hour for roughly two minutes.

This is a developing story and will be updated.