Doha, Qatar. An explosion at Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas complex injured 54 people and left 18 missing on Sunday evening, according to authorities. The blast occurred as workers were restarting operations that had been halted after an Iranian attack in March.
Casualties and emergency response
Qatar’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that 54 people had been injured and that rescue teams were searching for 18 missing people. Authorities described the incident at the Barzan local gas supply facility as a technical accident and said there was no threat to public safety.
Emergency response teams were deployed to the site, and the fire was later brought under control.
Impact of the explosion
The blast rattled windows and was felt across central Doha, causing panic among residents more than 70 kilometres from Ras Laffan.
QatarEnergy did not say whether the explosion had caused any damage to the plant.
Role of the facility
The Barzan facility supplies pipeline gas to local industry and Qatar’s power generation sector. It can also produce ethane, condensate, liquefied petroleum gas and sulphur for domestic and export markets.
The facility is located in Ras Laffan Industrial City, QatarEnergy’s main site for LNG production and export, with an annual production capacity of 77 million metric tons.
Wider context
Qatar, which hosts a major U.S. military base, has faced repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks during the Iran war.
The country has been among the hardest hit by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because it has no alternative routes to export its LNG. The closure trapped around 20% of global LNG supply in the Gulf before shipments recently began to resume.