Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion at a gas processing facility inside Qatar's massive Ras Laffan industrial complex, Qatar's energy minister said on Monday, marking one of the deadliest gas industry accidents in more than two decades.
Explosion Details and Casualties
Authorities reported that a "technical accident" occurred at the Barzan local gas processing facility on Sunday evening. The plant had been completely shut down since December 2025 for urgent maintenance and was restarted only two days before the incident, according to Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi. He confirmed that none of the 66 injured individuals receiving medical treatment were in a life-threatening condition. The deceased included Indian and Pakistani nationals.
No Impact on LNG Operations
Kaabi stressed that liquefied natural gas facilities were unaffected by the explosion. "QatarEnergy LNG facilities, Ras Laffan port and other logistical operations in Ras Laffan remain unaffected as a result of this explosion and fire and that will not affect in any way our export capabilities," he added. State-owned QatarEnergy is working to restart LNG operations at Ras Laffan, which were halted after an Iranian attack in March.
Investigation and Context
QatarEnergy has launched a full investigation into the cause of the accident, which Kaabi emphasized was not sabotage or hostile in nature and posed no environmental risk. The last comparable disaster was a 2004 explosion at Algeria's Skikda LNG complex that killed 27 people. Qatar, which hosts a major U.S. military base, has faced repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks during the Iran war, which trapped around 20% of global LNG supply in the Gulf before some shipments recently resumed. The Ras Laffan site had an annual production capacity of 77 million metric tons before an Iranian strike in early March damaged two trains, cutting 17% of production. QatarEnergy's CEO told Reuters the damage would take three to five years to repair.
