German police carry activist Greta Thunberg during a protest against the expansion of a coal mine

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been arrested by German police while participating in a protest against a coal mine outside a village in western Germany.

Greta was involved with activists seeking to prevent the demolition of the abandoned village of Letzerath, in order to expand a coal mine.

Police told the BBC that they would not detain the activist and that she would be released after checking her identity.

Police added that the Swedish activist was arrested after a group "rushed towards the edge" of the Garzwiller 2 mine.

It also confirmed that all the arrested members of the group will be released without charges once their identities are verified.
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Video from the scene showed three officers carrying Greta out of the middle of the protest as she smiled.

Police also told Reuters news agency that a man had jumped into the mine, which is located about 9 km from the village of Lutzerath.

Activists justify the protest that burning coal undermines Germany's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The German government has pledged to work towards phasing out coal in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state where the mine is located, by 2030. The overall national goal is to phase out coal by 2038.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on a police bus

The area around the village produces about 25 million tons of brown coal known as lignite per year, which is the dirtiest and most polluting type of coal.

The village, which is owned by the energy company RWE after it was abandoned by residents, is expected to be the last to be demolished for the lignite coal mine.

RWE said that the coal under the village is very necessary this winter.

The government says it needs to expand the mine to meet German energy demand and face the fallout from gas cuts from Russia.

Protest organizers said about 35,000 demonstrators showed up on Saturday, while police put the number closer to 15,000.

Police confirmed that they managed to remove all the activists from the town over the weekend. Footage from Sunday showed police forcing activist Greta and other protesters to move away from the mine.