Four seafarers have been killed and more injured after a Bangladeshi product tanker was hit by explosions two days apart.

The original first on the 1,000-dwt Shagor Nandini-2 (built 2012) occurred in the Sugandha River in Jhalokati on Saturday, the Bangladesh Coast Guard said.

The vessel caught fire after the explosion, which blew a section of the superstructure clear of the ship.

Nine crew members were on board at the time. Four bodies were found and the other five suffered burns.

The body of rating Abdus Salam Hridoy was recovered from the engine room, while divers brought ashore the bodies of master Ruhul Amin Khan, supervisor Masudur Rahman Belal and navigator Sarowar Hossain.

Officials from charterer Padma Oil Company (POC) said that 400,000 litres of oil have been recovered from the vessel after the blast.

The company has formed a committee to investigate the incident.

Owner SHR Navigation of Dhaka has four tankers of the same size chartered by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) through its national distribution agents POC and Meghna Petroleum.

On Monday, a fire broke out for the second time after a second explosion.

The flames were brought under control after 10 hours on Tuesday morning, Daily Bangladesh reported.

More people injured

Four firefighting teams were involved in the operation.

The incident occurred during oil removal operations to the sister ship Shagor Nandini-4.

The blast injured 14 people, including 10 police officers.

Reporters said they had seen three people being rushed to hospital with burn injuries after the latest blast.