ERKELENZ (dpa-AFX) - After the police almost completely evacuated the protest village of Lützerath, climate activists in the area continued to protest against lignite mining with actions. In the Hambach open pit mine, about 20 kilometers away, a bucket wheel excavator has been occupied since the early hours of the morning, according to an RWE spokesman on Monday. In addition, climate activists in wheelchairs abseiled from a highway bridge near Lützerath.

The excavator in the Rhenish lignite mining area had stopped operating, an RWE spokesman said. There were a total of four people on the excavator, he said. The police had been informed, he said.

According to the protest group "Counterattack - for the good life", eight activists occupied the excavator. With the action one wants to show solidarity with the people in the village Lützerath. The group also criticized the actions of the police there and called for the socialization of energy production.

A good four kilometers as the crow flies from Lützerath, climate activists also rappelled down from a highway bridge. They were two people in wheelchairs, a police spokesman said. The traffic on the highway 44 over it runs at present, on the highway under the bridge, however, nothing more goes.

In Lützerath itself, two activists were still in a tunnel on Monday morning, as a spokesman for RWE said. One was in contact with them. Meanwhile, the dismantling continues and is already "far advanced".

Except for the two tunnel squatters, the Rhenish lignite site has been cleared since Sunday afternoon. Most of the buildings had already been demolished by Sunday - including the farm of farmer Eckardt Heukamp, the last farmer in Lützerath.

After the complete demolition, the energy company RWE wants to excavate the coal underneath. It is expected that the dismantling will take another eight to ten days, a company spokesman told the "Rheinische Post" (Monday edition). "In March or April, the open pit mine could then reach the former village and excavate it."/gba/DP/jha