13 Dead, 66 Injured in Qatar Gas Factory Explosion

Doha. At least 13 people have died and 66 others have been injured in a powerful explosion at Qatar's largest gas factory. 

The country's main liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing center in the Ras Laffan Industrial City experienced a 'technical accident' on Sunday night, the Qatari Ministry of Interior said. The explosion caused the city's sky to turn completely orange.

Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi clarified that this was an accident and no hostile activity was involved. He also stated that this explosion would not affect the country's gas exports. 

Ras Laffan Port is the world's largest artificial port and houses the world's largest LNG export facility. The shockwave from Sunday's explosion was felt as far as central Doha, 70 kilometers away, causing panic among residents.

According to Energy Minister Al-Kaabi, the government is working to determine the cause of the explosion at the Barzan local gas supply facility. While he stated there was no environmental risk, he noted that it was difficult to ascertain when the industry's operations would fully resume. 

'The plant's production had been completely shut down since December 2025 for essential maintenance and was restarted just two days ago,' he said. The investigation into the accident has begun, and Minister Al-Kaabi confirmed that all those who lost their lives were citizens of India and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Doha stated that they are in constant contact with Qatari authorities and will provide all possible assistance to the families of the deceased and injured. The embassy wrote on social media platform X, 'We express our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident that occurred last night in Ras Laffan Industrial City.'

QatarEnergy, Qatar's state-owned energy company, confirmed the explosion at the Barzan local gas supply facility on Sunday evening. The company's statement read, 'Emergency response teams were immediately deployed to control the fire, and the fire has now been brought under control.' 

This explosion occurred as workers were resuming work that had been halted since March. Previously, the port had suffered extensive damage due to attacks during the conflict between the US-Israel and Iran. According to QatarEnergy, repairs for that damage will take three to five years and will reduce LNG production by 12.8 million tons. 

Qatar had previously halted a fifth of the world's total LNG supply due to conflict, but shipments had recently begun to resume.