German police have detained 20-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who took part in a protest against the expansion of a coal mine in the village of Lucerath. The energy company RWE plans to demolish the houses in this village to expand the Garzweiler coal mine.
According to Reuters, police officials said that Thunberg was detained along with other activists who staged a sit-in at the edge of a mine where bulldozers began to work. All of them were taken to the police station, but they said they would be released in a few hours. Activists have made calls for Germany not to mine coal anymore, but to focus on the use of modern renewable energy sources.
The German authorities intend to completely abandon the use of coal by 2030. Lucerath is expected to be the last settlement in the country's history to be demolished to support coal mining at the Harzweiler deposit.
On Saturday, a large-scale protest rally was already held at this place, in which, according to police, about 15 thousand people took part.