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Use of water cannons in the Dannenröder forest
Photo: Twitter Police Headquarters Central Hesse
In the Dannenröder forest, opponents of the expansion of the A49 again erected barricades and burned down pyrotechnics on Saturday - and the police used a water cannon when the temperature was below zero.
The ground in the forest is currently covered by a thin layer of snow;
Pictures show the activists shrinking from the water jet.
A discussion broke out on Twitter about the proportionality of the deployment.
»Water cannons in frost against peaceful demonstrators ?!
Is it still going? ”Tweeted the Left MP Anke Domscheit-Berg.
The Central Hesse police also described their point of view on Twitter: »The water cannon was used after multiple, express announcements and threats.
Nobody got surprisingly wet. "
According to the police, the activists had barricaded the emergency and rescue routes in an adjacent logistics warehouse: »The gate to the logistics warehouse is part of the emergency and rescue route.
Unrestricted access must therefore always be possible. "
After using the water cannon, the officers cleared the barricades.
It is still unclear whether there were injuries.
For over a year, environmentalists in Hessen have been protesting against the expansion of the A49 between Gießen and Kassel, which is supposed to lead through the forest area.
According to the Vogelsberg district, construction of the motorway should begin in September 2021.
Initially, 27 hectares of forest are to be cleared by February next year.
The clearing began a few weeks ago and is now nearing completion.
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vet / dpa