German riot police have cleared scores of environmental activists from buildings in an abandoned village, on a second day of clashes over the expansion of a coal mine.
During heavy rain, officers supported by bulldozers scaled buildings with ladders to remove protesters from rooftops and walls.
The demonstrators have been occupying the village of Luetzerath for the last two years attempting to stop energy firm RWE from expanding the Garzweiler coal mine.
The area around the village in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia is rich with lignite coal, a low-grade version of the fuel which is especially polluting because more of it has to be burned to produce units of power.
Lignite is responsible for around a fifth of Germany’s carbon emissions.
Although the protests were largely peaceful, some protesters threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at the advancing police. Many were dressed in white bodysuits and chanted “People got the power” and “Luetzerath stays”.
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Coal mine furore symbolises energy conundrum – analysis by Sky’s Hannah Thomas-Peter
The operation to dislodge the protesters began this week following a court decision allowing the development.
On Wednesday morning, more than 1,000 officers in riot gear started clearing barricades which protesters had been preparing for weeks.
One of the main buildings in the village was cleared by police on Thursday, with bulldozers swiftly moving in to cut down trees and removing debris.
“The weather conditions are a big problem today. We now have to analyse carefully whether it is even possible today to clear tree houses without risk,” Aachen police spokesperson Andrew Mueller said.
Hundreds of people remain in the village, according to protesters, with two people hiding in a tunnel under the site.
“We are ready to last here as long as possible and maybe even make it to Saturday so that all the people who are going to come to the demonstration will join us here,” said 32-year-old activist Milena Glimbovski.
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Climate protesters clash with police near mine in Germany
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg plans to join the demonstration on Saturday, according to the Luetzerathlebt environmentalist group.
Police fear it could take weeks to resolve the stand-off.
