THE action by climate activists which had the effect of stopping traffic on river Rhine at the height of Basel, in northwestern Switzerland, ended in the afternoon, as the activists announced on the social media X, formerly Twitter.

“The blockade has been lifted”, it says in the message they posted on the social network, which is accompanied by a photo showing the device with which the five activists were hanging as of 07:00 Greek time, empty.

Only the two banners that were unfurled remained under the bridge.

The police had decided to let the activists do their thing by monitoring them and had stopped traffic on the river, one of Europe’s main commercial arteries.

About a dozen ships were blocked because of this action, according to police.

“Our absolute priority is to make sure that no one gets hurt,” a spokesman for the Basel cantonal police said.

The five activists were lowered by ropes under the bridge and hung above the water under the gaze of passers-by who came to watch them either from the bridge or in boats.

Members of the Climate Justice Collective unfurled two banners with the slogan “Freedom of movement for people, not tankers” and a Stop sign.

They posted photos and a view of their action from a drone on social media X.