STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Two workers who fell to their deaths in a Southeast Missouri mine have been identified by their employer.

Mississippi Lime Co. president Bill Ayers issued a statement saying 53-year-old John Hahl of Farmington, Mo., and 29-year-old Chris Rawson of Hillsboro, Mo., died in the accident about 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Hahl and Rawson were working in a lime mine near Ste. Genevieve.

Ste. Genevieve County Coroner Leo Basler said the men were in a basket extended from a truck removing loose rock from either the wall or the ceiling of the mine.

Basler said loose rock hit the basket and detached it. The men fell to their death.

St. Louis-based Mississippi Lime Co. makes calcium products and calcium-based solutions.