Officials believe the men are trapped under around 10 feet of mud, sand and gravel, according to NBC station WLBT.
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Attempts to dislodge the vehicles with a crane failed Saturday and Sunday.
Coleman says a dam on the back side of the pit crashed in and trapped the men inside their equipment.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is overseeing the operation.
Emmitt Shorter and James “Dee” Hemphill were operating a track hoe and a dump truck at Green Brothers Gravel Company near Crystal Springs when a quicksand-like slurry engulfed their vehicles.
A spokeswoman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration says the search for two workers missing in a landslide at a gravel pit in MS will resume once a truck and excavator that also are buried can be removed. Lee Smithson, executive director of the emergency agency, called the event “unprecedented”, telling reporters that they are aware of people’s concerns about how long it’s taking to recover the men, but that “we must take safety of everyone involved into account”.
A statement from the family, provided by a family friend said, “We’re asking for continued honest prayers and ask that they treat this as a rescue mission, not a recovery; not to give up on us”.
“The focus right now is on safety, and no one is going to rush this operation and risk the lives any of the other responders out here”, Smithson says. Smithson pledges an investigation of the incident and recovery operations.
Amy Louviere said Monday officials are evaluating another approach to remove the heavy equipment.
Crews are working around the clock to find two missing workers at the Green Brothers Gravel Pit in Crystal Springs, near Jackson, MS News Now reports.
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“The crane will try to attach to the equipment to see if they gradually pull and lift the equipment out of the mud, ” said Drane.
