In 1978, American cult leader Jim Jones presided over the deaths of more than 900 followers of the People’s Temple, based in Jonestown, Guyana. CBC radio has a series of reports on the story. Follow the links below to listen to the radio broadcasts
The dead were most killed with cyanide, which some willingly took after poisoning their children with it first.
Today, the government’s being asked to declare it a tourist attraction despite its grisly history, recalled in this excerpt from a story filed back in the day by Bronwyn Drainie with the CBC Radio program, Sunday Morning.
Listen to more of Sunday Morning’s Jonestown coverage from 1978.
In the 33 years since that report, the jungle’s grown back and the Jonestown buildings have been looted, burnt and shunned by superstitious locals. But one man who witnessed the massacre’s grim aftermath believes it should be a tourist attraction.
Dispatches contributor Sarah Grainger is hacking through the bush to see what once was, and what some want it to become.
For the original report go to http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches/news-promo/2011/11/30/guyana-jungle-tourism-and-jonestown/
