Recovery efforts at the scene of a gravel pit landslide in Copiah County, Mississippi buried two workers and the equipment they were operating in. Rescue crews on Monday will continue trying to reach two miners who have been buried for over 60 hours following a gravel-pit collapse in Mississippi.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said the men were operating an excavator and a dump truck Friday at the bottom of a pit in Crystal Springs when they were “engulfed” by a wall of sludge-like material.
Officials believe the men are trapped under around 10 feet of mud, sand and gravel.
About 25 men are working at the site, according to a statement released by the Mine Safety and Health Administration Sunday night. Equipment includes a 230-ton crane, a CAT 336 excavator, an air compressor and haulage trucks.
Authorities have had to stabilize the ground leading to where the men were buried and build a road to it to prevent further damage, injuries or casualties. Mine employees have been used to build the road for crane access. A construction crew is conducting the crane operations/setup/hookup.
Officials have not released the names of the men involved in the incident. However, relatives at the scene identified the men as Emmitt Shorter, 24, and James “Dee” Hemphill. MSHA family liaisons are currently on site with family members.
Shorter’s family members told The Clarion-Ledger that he was driving an excavator and Hemphill was driving a truck.
Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones told The Clarion-Ledger that two men were at the bottom of a pit at Green Brothers Gravel in Crystal Springs around noon Friday when a wall of gravel collapsed on their equipment, burying them under at least 10-12 feet of what has been described as “sludge.”
Since that time, authorities have dealt with rain delays and the sheer weight of the materials covering the workers and their equipment as they have tried to figure out how to dig them out of the pit.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, in a statement Sunday, said Green Brothers is leading the recovery efforts with oversight from the MSHA. The Copiah County EMA and Sheriff’s Department are also assisting.
Part of the arm of the excavator was all that could be seen after the landslide.
A crane was brought in Saturday, but crews have been unsuccessful in their efforts to lift the excavator. The crane will attempt to lift the haulage unit — a CAT articulated truck 730C — which is a lighter unit and closer to the crane. The company also has been given the go-ahead to bring in pumps to remove water and waste.
Officials said they’re trying to make sure that when they hook to the excavator to try to pull it out, they’re able to hook to a piece that will not break off. The weight of the dirt and rocks on top of the equipment makes pulling it free even more difficult.
The MSHA said it was notified around noon Friday. The sheriff’s department was first on scene, officials said, and tried to start digging the men out, but additional slides from the rain-soaked material forced them to stop.
