Explosion at Qatar gas hub leaves 54 injured and 18 missing
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Mon, 06/22/2026 - 11:17
Qatari authorities say search and rescue operations under way after 'internal explosion' at Ras Laffan complex
This frame grab from AFPTV video footage on 21 June 2026 shows an explosion at Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial zone as the result of a 'technical incident' (AFPTV/AFP)
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An overnight explosion at Qatar’s main liquefied natural gas processing facility has injured at least 54 people and left 18 others missing, according to authorities in Doha.
The incident at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is around 80km from Doha, was described on Monday by the Qatari interior ministry as an “internal explosion”.
It said that search and rescue workers had been deployed to conduct search operations.
The ministry said the incident was caused by a “technical malfunction”.
It added that there had not been any leakage from the facility, and there was no danger to public safety.
The state-owned QatarEnergy, which administers Ras Laffan, said that emergency response teams had been immediately deployed after an explosion at the Barzan factory in the complex. The teams brought a fire under control at the facility.
Ras Laffan spans 295 square kilometres - roughly a third of the size of New York City. It is the centrepiece of Qatar’s lucrative gas operation.
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The site processes the Gulf state’s vast gas reserves from the offshore North Field, turning it into LNG, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquid fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other byproducts.
In March, Iranian missile strikes caused significant damage at the facility, as Tehran struck Gulf countries that host US bases in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Strikes damaged two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquid facilities, wiping out 17 percent of LNG export capacity.
The disruption was set to sideline 12.8 million tonnes of LNG annually for three to five years and cost $20bn in lost annual revenue, Saad al-Kaabi, chief executive of QatarEnergy, said at the time.
Almost all of the output from Ras Laffan is transported via the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman’s Musandam peninsula that Tehran has effectively shut in response to the US-Israeli war.
The combination of the attacks on Ras Laffan and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz stifled Qatar’s main export.
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