Jonestown, the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, was the home of an American religious organization lead by Jim Jones. On November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement, at the nearby airstrip, and in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. Of the 909 who died in the settlement, all but two were killed by cyanide poisoning. An additional five were gunned down at the nearby airstrip, including United States Congressman Leo Ryan. In this video, Jonestown survivor Vernon Gosney speaks about surviving that day. Gosney claims to be the one responsible for trying to communicate to Congressman Ryan and his delegation that a number of Temple members were unhappy, however his letter instead ended up in Jones’s hands. Says Gosney: “There was great terror and fear. I never thought I was going to get out alive.”
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