At least 54 people injured, 18 others missing in LNG facility explosion in Ras Laffan Industrial City

At least 54 people were injured and 14 others are missing following an explosion that occurred last night at a factory in Ras Laffan, Qatar. This was announced by the country’s Ministry of Interior. Earlier, Qatari authorities claimed it was an ‘internal explosion at the factory caused by a technical incident,’ and no hazardous material leak was reported.

State-owned firm QatarEnergy said the blast occurred “during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at Barzan local gas supply facility”.

While Qatari authorities emphasised Sunday’s explosion was the result of an internal issue, the Ras Laffan hub had already been badly damaged in the recent war between the US, Israel and Iran.

Iranian attacks during the war targeted Gulf energy infrastructure including Ras Laffan, forcing Qatar to halt gas production. 

The tiny emirate, one of the world’s leading liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia, halted LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone strikes hit key facilities. 

Further damage from attacks on March 18 was expected to cut LNG export capacity by 17 percent and take three to five years to repair,  Qatar Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi said at the time.