Humans? Or Statue?

With each passing day, the ice started to melt even more which completely stopped the work. For days, people just stayed there sitting like a statue as if there was no life there. The only sound people heard was of the melting ice which shook them from inside. All they wanted was to explore the area so that they can support their country but it wasn’t anything like this and that day they saw something devastating. What did they see?