An explosion at a factory in Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City has injured 54 people and left 18 others missing, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.
The blast occurred on Sunday following what authorities described as a “technical incident” at the industrial hub. Emergency responders have launched search operations to locate the missing persons.
An AFP journalist located about 20 kilometres from the site reported seeing flames lighting up the night sky, accompanied by a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Ras Laffan is home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub.
State-owned QatarEnergy said the explosion occurred during the restart of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, triggering a fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility.
“The incident occurred during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility,” the company said.
The Interior Ministry initially described the incident as an “internal explosion” before later attributing it to a technical malfunction.
“A total of 54 people were injured in the incident that occurred at a factory in the Ras Laffan Industrial City,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X on Monday, adding that authorities were actively searching for the 18 missing individuals.
The latest incident comes months after Ras Laffan suffered extensive damage during the US-Iran conflict, when Iranian strikes targeted Gulf energy infrastructure. The attacks forced Qatar to suspend LNG production on March 2 after key facilities were hit by drones.
Further strikes on March 18 were expected to reduce the country’s LNG export capacity by 17 per cent, with repairs projected to take between three and five years, according to Qatar’s Energy Minister, Saad Al-Kaabi.
Qatar is one of the world’s leading producers of liquefied natural gas, alongside the United States, Australia and Russia.
AFP
