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 said on Monday.
The blast, which occurred on Sunday, was caused by a “technical incident,” according to the ministry, which added that authorities had launched a search operation for the missing persons.
An AFP journalist located about 20 kilometres from the industrial zone reported seeing flames lighting up the night sky and a large plume of smoke rising from the area, which hosts the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub.
State-owned energy giant QatarEnergy said the explosion happened during the restart of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City and affected the Barzan local gas supply facility, triggering a fire.
In a subsequent statement, the Interior Ministry described the incident as an “internal explosion” caused by a technical malfunction.
The explosion comes months after Ras Laffan sustained significant damage during the US-Iran conflict. Iranian strikes targeting Gulf energy infrastructure had previously forced Qatar to suspend gas production.
Qatar, one of the world’s leading producers of liquefied natural gas alongside the United States, Australia and Russia, halted LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone attacks struck key facilities.
Further attacks 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.
