New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS): Power producer NTPC on Thursday said it has shut down a 500 MW unit at its Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh following the accident on Wednesday that claimed the lives of 26 people.

The company in a regulatory filing in the BSE said: "This is to inform that Unit 6 (500 MW) of Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station, Rae Bareli, is under shut down after an accident in the evening of November 1, 2017. The other five units of the station are operating normally."

The death toll in the NTPC boiler blast here in Uttar Pradesh rose to 26 on Thursday, with more injured workers succumbing to their burn injuries, officials said.

The massive explosion took place in a 500 MW boiler unit in Unchahar town on the Lucknow-Allahabad highway. Many were trapped when a fire erupted in the boiler and a huge ball of dust rose after the blast, making the rescue operations difficult.

On Thursday, contractual labourers at the plant raised slogans against the NTPC management. They claimed they had warned about an impending disaster at unit six as the temperature near the furnace had been steadily rising.

The NTPC has launched a probe into the incident, which it said took place due to "excess ash deposition" in the furnace. The state government has ordered a magisterial probe.