Protesters clash with police at German coal mine protest
German police clashed with environmental protesters on Saturday at a village being razed to make way for a coal mine expansion.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg turned up at the protest, in the hamlet of Luetzerath in western Germany, and condemned the move.
Organisers said that 35,000 protesters took part, with police putting the figure at 15,000.
There were clashes between some protesters and police, with hundreds defying an order to leave the cordoned off site, braving the mud, rain and later the darkness.
Police used water cannons against "violent" protesters, a police spokesman told AFP. But by the early evening, the site was calm again as the protesters gradually left.
Police said there had been people injured on both sides "but we don't yet know how many" nor how serious the injuries had been.
The group that organised the protest said dozens of activists had been injured, including some by the water cannons and others from bites from police dogs.
At least 20 activists had been taken to hospital for treatment, said Birte Schramm, a medic with the group still occupying the village. Some of them had been beaten on the head and in the stomach by police, she added.
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