Greta Thunberg detained by police during protests over coal mine at German village
17 January 2023, 16:46 | Updated: 17 November 2023, 11:27
Greta Thunberg has been detained during a protest at a coal mine in Germany.
The 20-year-old eco activist, who has been demonstrating against a planned expansion of the mine in North Rhine-Westphalia, was hauled away by police on Tuesday.
RWE wants to demolish the village to expand the Garzweiler mine.
Ms Thunberg was pictured smiling as officers picked her up by her arms and legs and carried her off.
She joined some 6,000 people who gathered to oppose the expansion of the mine near Luetzerath at the weekend.
Aachen police said she was part of a group that "stormed" to the edge of the mine, which was "steep and extremely dangerous".
Ms Thunberg had previously said on January 13: "Climate strike week 230. We are currently in Lützerath, a German village threatened to be demolished for an expansion of a coal mine.
"People have been resisting for years. Join us here at 12 or a local protest tomorrow to demand that #LützerathBleibt !"
On Tuesday, dozens of activists glued themselves to a street in Cologne and a state government building in Dusseldorf as part of the campaign.
A pair of activists had stayed in a tunnel underneath the village, while others went on a march nearby. One entered the mine which the energy firm RWE called "very reckless".
A group of some 120 people blocked coal railroad tracks that connect to the Neurath power plant.
Police and RWE have spent the last week evicting protesters, the latest incident in years of opposition to the plans.
