Explosion at Qatar's Ras Laffan Leaves 18 Missing, 54 Injured

An explosion occurred in Ras Laffan Industrial City, a major global hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in Qatar. The accident has left 18 people missing and at least 54 injured.

AP Yonhap News Agency

According to Qatar’s Ministry of Interior and the state-owned energy company QatarEnergy on June 21 (local time), an explosion and subsequent fire broke out at the Barzan gas supply facility within Ras Laffan Industrial City. The Ministry of Interior described the incident as an internal explosion resulting from a "technical accident." Civil defense teams and rescue personnel have been dispatched to manage the scene and search for the missing individuals.

QatarEnergy explained that the accident occurred during efforts to resume operations at the Ras Laffan Industrial City facility. While authorities initially reported only a small number of injuries, the scale of the damage has since increased significantly. Given the high number of missing persons, there is a possibility that additional casualties will be confirmed.

Ras Laffan Industrial City serves as the core base of Qatar's LNG industry. The city houses facilities that bring in natural gas from offshore fields, liquefy it, and export it to countries around the world. In addition to LNG processing facilities, the area contains storage facilities, condensate separation units, refineries, and other energy-related infrastructure.

This accident appears to have occurred during the process of restarting operations at the Ras Laffan facility, which had previously been shut down following an Iranian attack. Ras Laffan Industrial City suffered damage from drone strikes and other hostilities during the conflict between the United States and Iran. QatarEnergy had earlier declared force majeure, stating that it was unable to fulfill existing LNG contracts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.