At least 54 people were injured and 18 others remain missing following an explosion at a factory in Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the country’s Interior Ministry announced on Monday.
According to authorities, the blast occurred on Sunday as a result of what was described as a “technical incident.” Emergency teams have since launched search operations to locate those still unaccounted for.
An AFP journalist located about 20 kilometres from the scene reported seeing flames lighting up the night sky, along with thick smoke rising from the industrial area, which hosts one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production hubs.
State-owned QatarEnergy stated that the incident happened during the restart of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City. The company explained that the explosion and subsequent fire broke out at the Barzan local gas supply facility during the start-up process.
The Interior Ministry later characterized the event as an “internal explosion,” noting that preliminary findings pointed to a technical malfunction as the cause.
The incident comes months after Ras Laffan sustained significant damage during the US-Iran conflict. Iranian strikes targeting energy infrastructure in the Gulf had forced Qatar to suspend gas production operations.
Qatar, one of the world’s leading LNG exporters alongside the United States, Australia, and Russia, halted LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone attacks struck critical facilities. Additional attacks later in March caused further damage, with officials warning that the country’s LNG export capacity could be reduced by 17 percent and that repairs may take between three and five years.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing as authorities continue to investigate the cause of the explosion and assess the full extent of the damage.
