Overview
- Tens of thousands joined a UGTT-led protest as shops, schools and public services closed across the coastal city.
- Medical sources and NGOs report more than 200 recent hospitalisations for respiratory distress and gas exposure.
- Security forces reported clashes and arrests, with the National Guard saying protesters used over 800 Molotov cocktails and that robberies and looting occurred.
- Officials say rapid steps are underway to control gas emissions and halt phosphogypsum discharge into the sea, with a planned cancer hospital announced without a timetable.
- A July audit seen by Reuters found the CGT complex violating standards, including dumping 14,000–15,000 tons of phosphogypsum daily, after authorities reversed a 2017 phaseout pledge and moved to boost phosphate output.