Egyptian security forces used rubber bullets to disperse an estimated eight thousand demonstrators in Alexandria's central Sidi Gaber Square on Tuesday.
Despite the escalation, demonstrators stood their ground, declaring they would maintain their protest until the morning.
In the Nile Delta governorate of Gharbiya, meanwhile, authorities halted all bus service to and from the city of Mahalla, considered a stronghold of Egypt's labor movement.
And in the capital, security forces regrouped before attempting to impose cordons around thousands of demonstrators in central Cairo's Tahrir Square. Some 10,000 security personnel were reportedly deployed for the task.
Local residents provided demonstrators with hot meals and water, according to eyewitnesses at the scene.
