German police have used water cannons to disperse protests in the mining town of Lutzerath
ERKELENZ (GERMANY), 14 (DPA/EP)
German police have confirmed several injured protesters and officers after demonstrations outside the mining town of Lutzerath, after a surge in tension over environmental protests against the demolition of the town to expand a mine.
The protests against the demolition of the German town have resulted in several people being injured, both agents and demonstrators, as confirmed by the authorities to the German agency DPA. However, the Police have not specified the number of injured, the seriousness of the injuries or the exact cause of them.
During the demonstration, the authorities have had to resort to water cannons to disperse those summoned.
Hundreds of protesters have confronted the Police this Saturday shouting “Towards Lutzerath!”, which has forced the riot police to intervene.
Hours before, the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has criticized this Saturday the leaders of the German party of Los Verdes, a partner of the German government coalition, for their support for the demolition of the town, in the west of the country, for the extraction of coal from underground.
Thunberg has held companies such as energy company RWE, which owns the land, to account for the way they treat people. “The fact that the Greens are engaging with these companies shows what their priorities are,” he added.
These statements have clashed diametrically with one of the highest representatives of the party, the Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeck, who this past Friday lamented that the environmental activists who had occupied the town due to their opposition to the use of this area to obtain coal were freeing a “wrong battle”.
Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Keyenberg, thousands of people have also demonstrated against RWE’s plans to open a coal mine on the site.
