German police removed thousands of protesters who were attempting to block a train carrying nuclear waste, say media reports.
The protesters occupied train tracks in northern Germany near Dannenberg where the nuclear waste, which was en route from France, is to be stored, reported AFP. Around 1,300 people were detained for attempting to obstruct the shipment.
The train convoy was stopped for 18 hours due to the protesters, reported AFP, which said the incident was mostly peaceful except for small, isolated cases of violence.
“We’ve had campfires, music, and brought in food,” an organizer told the news agency.
According to The Associated Press, between 3,500 and 5,000 people took part in the protest.
Activists told AP that around 150 people were injured as police attempted to disperse them.
The train was carrying nuclear waste that had been processed in La Hague in France and was originally produced in Germany.
German officials say they will phase out nuclear power over the next 10 years, citing concerns over the nuclear industry after the earthquake in Japan that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Japan is still struggling to achieve a cold shutdown of the reactor in the planet’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
Friends Read Free