(new: more details and background)

ERKELENZ (dpa-AFX) - Five days after the eviction of Lützerath began, two remaining climate activists have left an underground tunnel under the settlement. The end of the former village on the edge of the Garzweiler open-cast lignite mine in western North Rhine-Westphalia is thus imminent. The eviction is finished, announced both the energy company RWE and a spokeswoman for the activist initiative "Lützerath Lives" on Monday. RWE wants to complete the "deconstruction" of Lützerath already in the coming days, according to its own information.

The two activists in the apparently self-built underground tunnel had been considered the last occupants of the village, which is to be dredged for coal extraction. Other activists had already left the settlement in the days before or had been taken away by the police. Initially, it had not been foreseeable how long it would take to bring the activists in the tunnel to daylight. RWE's plant fire department had taken over the operation, which was described as a "rescue". On Monday, everything suddenly happened quite quickly.

The two activists had left voluntarily in the end, RWE explained. One was "relieved" that the "life-threatening situation" had been ended in this way. "A rescue from the tunnel against the announced resistance of the persons would have been associated with high risks, also for the rescue forces," it said. Experts had been called in to convince them to come out of the tunnel again themselves, it said.

The Lützerath activists also said on Twitter that the two people had left the tunnel "by themselves." "A thousand thanks for your life-threatening commitment against lignite & capitalism," they wrote. "The two definitely also want to tell the public: they are well aware of what they have done," said a spokeswoman for the "Lützerath Lives" initiative. She said they were well prepared for their situation and could have actually stayed longer. "To me, they seemed physically fit for now," she said. According to her information, they are now allowed to leave the premises and move around freely. The two activists themselves did not initially speak to journalists.

Exactly how long the two had held out in the tunnel was initially unclear. However, a video of two hooded individuals on the Youtube platform had caused a stir since Thursday. In it, "Pinky" and "Brain" claimed to be in a tunnel under Lützerath. The tunnel is a very effective form of defense against eviction, they argued. It is much more difficult to clear a tunnel than, say, a tree house, they said.

According to RWE, the two were now "the last activists" to leave Lützerath. The eviction by the police had ended. The deconstruction of the former settlement will be completed "in the coming days".

The spokeswoman for "Lützerath Lives" also said, "This means for us, of course, that this eviction, which we have observed for the last few days, is over for now." Although they may now have "lost" against the "massive police contingent," they have also gained a lot. Lützerath is now known throughout Germany.

The village, a district of Erkelenz west of Cologne, has been cordoned off by the police for days and surrounded by a double fence. The few buildings in the settlement are being demolished to allow energy company RWE to excavate the brown coal underneath. However, resistance had formed against the demolition and the planned mining of the coal./idt/DP/jha