HOCHNEUKIRCH, Germany (AP) — Hundreds of environmental activists broke through a police cordon to enter one of Germany’s biggest lignite coal mines Saturday, determined to draw attention to the urgency of climate change after a plan to make the European Union carbon neutral by 2050 failed to find agreement.

Police ordered the activists to leave the vast, open-pit Garzweiler mine in western Germany, citing life-threatening dangers. German news agency dpa reported that some officers were hurt, but didn’t have any further details.

The occupation was among several demonstrations near the mine and adjacent power plants that attracted thousands of people to the village of Hochneukirch and surrounding Rhineland areas.