Qatar gas facility blast kills 13, disrupts LNG export
At least 13 people have been killed and 66 injured after an explosion at Qatar's largest gas facility.
The city’s main liquified natural gas (LNG) processing site suffered a “technical accident” in the Ras Laffan industrial zone on Sunday night, the interior ministry said, with the skyline turning orange because of the blast.
Energy Minister Saad Sherida al‑Kaabi hailed the incident as an accident, not sabotage, and assured that exports would not be affected. He warned, however, that the plant still faced a challenging path to full resumption after a month‑long maintenance halt that began in December 2025 and ended two days earlier.
The explosion was felt across central Doha, shaking windows and frightening residents as far as 70 kilometres away.
An investigation has already begun. Al‑Kaabi confirmed that the casualties were all from India and Pakistan. The Embassy of India in Doha expressed condolences and solidarity, vowing support for affected families.
QatarEnergy, the state‑owned energy company, stated the blast occurred at the Barzan local gas supply facility in the evening of 21 June. Emergency teams were deployed immediately, and the fire is now under control.
The incident follows the Ras Laffan Port’s earlier targeting by Iranian strikes during the US‑Israel war, a conflict that also forced a pause in production that balanced a fifth of the world’s LNG supply. Repairs are expected to cut output by 12.8 million tonnes over three to five years, though ship deliveries are recently resuming.
