Fifty-four injured, 18 missing after massive explosion rocks Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility

DOHA: A massive explosion and fire struck Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City on Sunday night, injuring at least 54 people and leaving 18 others missing, according to official statements. The state-run energy giant, QatarEnergy, confirmed that the incident occurred during start-up operations at the Barzan gas supply facility, located north of the capital, Doha.

Emergency services and civil defence teams were quickly sent to the scene to bring the fire under control, while a huge cloud of smoke and flames lit up the night sky.

According to Reuters, a loud explosion was heard across Doha, followed by flames at the industrial site where Qatar processes most of its liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Technical accident triggered blast

Qatar’s Interior Ministry said the explosion was caused by a technical fault during the restart of operations at a factory in Ras Laffan Industrial City. In a statement, the ministry said the situation had been brought under control and posed no wider risk to public safety.

“The incident was caused by a technical accident during operations at a factory in Ras Laffan Industrial City,” the ministry said, adding that the relevant authorities were continuing to deal with the aftermath.

Although early reports indicated fewer casualties, the ministry later confirmed that dozens of people had been injured and 18 workers remained missing. Search and rescue teams are carrying out intensive operations at the site to locate the missing workers.

Vulnerability in global energy hub

The Barzan facility, which has a processing capacity of 1.4b cubic feet per day, plays a vital role in Qatar’s domestic infrastructure, primarily supplying pipeline gas to local industries and the country’s power generation sector. It also produces ethane, condensate, liquefied petroleum gas, and sulphur for both domestic and export markets.

The industrial hub at Ras Laffan serves as QatarEnergy’s primary site for LNG production, boasting a total capacity of 77m metric tons per annum across 14 production trains. However, the energy-rich state has faced severe operational constraints in recent months.

Two of Qatar’s LNG trains and one of its gas-to-liquids facilities were previously damaged in strikes amid the wider conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

Those strikes had already knocked out 17pc of the country’s LNG export capacity, with repairs expected to take years. Industry analysts note that this latest accident at Barzan further compounds vulnerabilities within Qatar’s energy infrastructure, which could spark fresh anxieties in global energy markets.