Police clear first buildings in abandoned German coal village

Police officers use shields as activists demonstrate during a sit-in protest against the expansion of the Garzweiler open-cast lignite mine of Germany's utility RWE, in Luetzerath, Germany, January 12, 2023 that has highlighted tensions over Germany's climate policy during an energy crisis. REUTERS/Christian Mang

LUETZERATH, Germany (Reuters) - German police were trying to clear hundreds of climate protesters holed up in an abandoned village in western Germany for a second day on Thursday, in a continuing standoff over the expansion of a coal mine.

For over two years demonstrators have occupied Luetzerath, a village in the brown-coal district of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, to stop the expansion of the Garzweiler lignite coal mine, run by energy firm RWE.