From CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/07/11/sixflags.death.ap/index.html

Quick Quote:

"A woman standing near an amusement park ride was hit by at least one of the ride's cars and killed at Six Flags New Orleans. The cars were about three feet off the ground at the time, park spokeswoman Ann Wills said. She said it wasn't clear how Rosa Donaldson got so close to the ride Wednesday night. 'There are gates that close off the area for safety reasons,' Wills said. "

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My 2 Cents....

At first, I thought this must be a situation where the person got too close to a ride, being somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. But as you read the brief news, it mentions she may have been trying to buckle her grandson into the ride when it started before she was clear. Perhaps an employee started it without checking to make sure everyone was clear first?

Regardless, a very sad story...

My guess is that she was able to bypass the security measures and get around the gates to check on her grandson. Apparently, she was a frequent visitor so my guess is that since she was familiar with the ride, she thought it would be okay to step in and to check her grandson. It is very unlikely that the ride op did not check the restraints on the grandson, so I am wondering why the grandmother felt the need to doublecheck the ride op.