Berlin: Police in western Germany escort Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and other protesters away from the edge of an opencast coal mine on Tuesday where they demonstrated against the destruction of a village for the mine’s expansion, German news agency dpa reported. . Later the police released him. Thunberg was among hundreds of people who resumed anti-mining protests in several places in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia after the last two climate activists left the site, hiding in a tunnel beneath the village of Luzerath. Elsewhere in western Germany, dozens of climate activists affixed themselves to a main street in the western German city of Cologne and a state government building in Düsseldorf. Near Romerskirchen, a group of about 120 workers occupied the coal rail tracks for the Neurath power plant, according to police and the energy company RWE. DPA reported that those who refused to leave the tracks were taken away.
In addition, many people occupied a giant digger at Inden’s coal mine, while hundreds of other protesters joined a protest march near Luetzerth. In recent days, the police had evacuated the village itself and it has been sealed. Once again there were some clashes with the police.
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According to DPA, several workers ran towards the Garzweiler open pit mine. They stood at the edge of the open crater, which has a sharp break-off edge. Police said it was dangerous and people were forbidden from living there.
Thunberg had traveled to western Germany to take part in weekend demonstrations against the expanded mine and also took part in Tuesday’s protest near Luetzerath. Police in nearby Aachen said a group of about 50 protesters got dangerously close to the rim of the mine and did not want to leave despite being told to do so.
Police said everyone in that group had to be taken away from the edge of the mine and then held temporarily to determine their identities. Photos from the scene show Thunberg was among those taken away by officers.
“A protester was able to enter the mine, a move RWE described as ‘very reckless’,” the DPA said.
A police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as is customary in Germany, said he was not allowed to provide any details about Thunberg or anyone else who took part in the protest because of privacy rules. .
Police and RWE began clearing protesters from Luetzerath on 11 January, removing roadblocks, chopping down treehouses and demolishing buildings.
Activists have cited Luetzerth’s symbolic importance for years, and on Saturday thousands demonstrated against the razing of the village by RWE for the expansion of the Garzweiler coal mine.