A new incident occurred on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at Chatt Essalem college. New gas poisoning affected several students, some of whom fainted and others suffocated. They had to be rushed to the Gabès University Hospital by ambulance to receive the necessary first aid. The information was confirmed by the Stop Pollution association as well as by certain residents of the region. This asphyxiation would be due to the emission of gases coming from one of the industrial units of the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT).
This new incident occurs in a context of social and environmental tension: for several weeks, residents of Gabès have been complaining of suffocating gas fumes coming from the GCT, affecting the entire population. Children were particularly affected, notably at Chatt Essalem middle school, which faced several similar incidents.
The day before, the students of Gnayna Primary School in Chatt Essalem did not return to their establishment. Parents are demanding the installation of a permanent health point within the school in order to provide first aid to their children if necessary. Worried about the health of their children, they announced the suspension of schooling until adequate sanitary conditions are ensured, free of gases and noxious odors threatening the lives of students on a daily basis.
The population has increased the number of demonstrations, the most recent taking place during the regional general strike of October 21, 2025, where between 40,000 and 45,000 citizens gathered in front of the headquarters of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) in Gabès. The demonstrators demanded healthy air, denounced attacks on public health and called for the dismantling of polluting units.
Recall that the President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed, received on Saturday November 8, 2025, at the Palace of Carthage, the petrochemical engineer Ali Ben Hammoud, graduate of the Shanghai University of Chemical Industries, to discuss the environmental situation in Gabès. The president praised the engineer’s career and affirmed that he had responded “without hesitation” to the call to engage in resolving the region’s environmental file.
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