According to police, people were injured in clashes between climate demonstrators and the police in front of the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area on Saturday.

There were injuries on both sides, a police spokesman told the German Press Agency on Saturday evening.

The exact number of injured people and the circumstances that led to the injuries were not initially known.

While the organizers estimated the number of participants in the major demonstration at 35,000, according to the spokesman, the police counted around 15,000 people.

Around 5,000 of them did not take part in the meeting.

They would have immediately moved in the direction of the quarry edge and Lützerath.

They were therefore regarded as "disturbers".

Walking to the edge of the mine is life-threatening because the ground has softened due to constant rain and there is a risk of landslides.

Around 1,000 of them, mostly masked, put considerable pressure on police chains at the edge of the opencast mine and on the outskirts of Lützerath, the spokesman said.

"As a result, multi-purpose batons and pepper spray were used." Water cannons were also used to prevent people from entering Lützerath.

Several emergency vehicles that formed a barrier in front of the construction fence were climbed over and damaged.

However, the construction fence around the village was not breached.

The spokesman emphasized that sticks and water cannons were only used after the people had been threatened with coercion "countless times".

He was initially unable to provide any information as to whether there had been any arrests.

The spokesman continued to say that people were still staying in tree houses on the sealed off area of ​​​​Lützerath.

At least two people are still in an “underground floor structure”.

He did not give any information about the exact number.

Everything is cleared at ground level.

According to the police, the evacuation measures were interrupted on Saturday evening.

They should be continued on Sunday.

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg called for the preservation of Lützerath at the demonstration and called for further protests and resistance.

"As long as the coal is in the ground, this fight is not over," she said in a speech at the end of the rally on Saturday.

"We have no intention of giving up."

Thunberg called it "a disgrace" that Germany, despite the climate crisis, continues to sign contracts with energy companies like RWE that would mine and burn coal.

The Swede praised the large number of participants at the demo as a "sign of hope".

The response shows that the changes in climate and environmental policy are not being achieved "by the so-called decision-makers" in politics and business, but by the "people who are in tree houses, who are here on the street".

In an interview with the German Press Agency, the world-famous activist criticized the Greens for their support for the demolition of Lützerath.

Corporations like RWE should actually be held accountable for how they treat people.

"The fact that the Greens are making compromises with such companies shows where their priorities lie," said Thunberg.

On Saturday morning, the police continued to clear the town of Lützerath, which was occupied by climate protection activists and is to be demolished for lignite mining.

"The work continues," said a police spokesman.

Emergency services climbed trees on which people persevered.

An activist was later brought down.

According to the energy company RWE, preparations are also underway to get activists out of a tunnel.

According to the police, the operation at the tunnel has been handed over.

A police spokesman said it was a "rescue" that was now in the hands of RWE and THW.