Latest update March 11th, 2025 10:55 AM
To mark the occasion, Kaieteur News is reprinting photographs published by ABC News
On Nov. 18, 1978, one of the biggest American mass deaths took place in Jonestown, Guyana at the People’s Temple compound. Following the orders of their leader, Rev. Jim Jones, over 900 members of the cult, including children, died, most by ingesting a cyanide-laced drink.
Friday last marked the 44th anniversary of the world’s biggest mass suicide, which occurred at Jonestown in Guyana’s North West District. On November 18, 1978, a drug-crazed American evangelist, Jim Jones, led hundreds of his followers whom he had brought from California, to their deaths.
The incident gave Guyana infamous world notice and today, it remains a hot topic whenever the anniversary comes around.
People’s Temple follower Larry Layton, centre, stands with police following his arrest in the shooting of two people, including California Congressman Leo Ryan, on a remote Guyana airstrip, Nov. 18, 1978.
Rev. Jim Jones, founder of the Peoples Temple cult, is seen in this photo found in an album on the compound after the tragedy, Nov. 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. (AP, FILE)
In 1974, Jones leased more than 3,800 acres of isolated jungle from the Guyanese government. He believed that the mostly English-speaking South American country could be a sort of utopia for his California-based congregation. (AP, FILE)
Under the orders of Jones, Larry Layton and several armed men shot the congressman and his party to protect the sect fearing the government was going to take them away. Arguing that the attack on the planes would bring Jonestown residents harm, Jones persuaded members to ingest a cyanide-laced drink. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
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