US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) spokeswoman Amy Louviere said the victim, whose name has not been released, was working at the Prairie Eagle South operation near Cutler, Perry County, when he was pinned between the tail of a continuous mining machine and the coal rib.

“The victim was the continuous mining machine operator and he had the remote control unit with him,” she said.

“The right side of the cut had been completed and the victim was moving the machine over to start the left side of the cut.”

“We grieve the loss of one of our own and extend our deepest sympathies to his family,” a Knight Hawk official said.

“An investigation is being conducted and we are prohibited from making further comment.”

Federal records list Arch Coal as the complex’s controlling company.

Knight Hawk, which employs about 60 workers, began production in 2009. It has maintained a lost-time incident rate better than the national average since its opening.

The miner’s death is the fourth in US coal in less than two weeks, and it is the first recorded in Illinois.