This image, taken from AFPTV video footage dated June 21, 2026, shows an explosion in the Ras Laffan industrial zone in Qatar. (Photo: AFPTV/AFP)
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, one of the deadliest gas industry accidents in more than two decades.
Liquefied natural gas facilities were not impacted by the explosion, Qatar's Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said. State-owned QatarEnergy is working to restart LNG operations at Ras Laffan, which were halted after an Iranian attack in March.
Authorities said a "technical accident" occurred at the Barzan local gas processing facility on Sunday evening. Plant production had been completely stopped since December 2025 due to urgent maintenance requirements and it was first restarted only two days ago, Kaabi told reporters.
The last comparable disaster was a 2004 explosion at Algeria's Skikda LNG complex that killed 27 people. None of the 66 people reported injured and receiving medical treatment after the Barzan explosion was in a life-threatening condition, Kaabi said.
The people killed were Indian and Pakistani, he added.
QatarEnergy has started a full investigation into the cause of the accident, which Kaabi stressed was not sabotage or hostile in nature and posed no risk to the environment.
"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.
Qatar, which hosts a major U.S. military base, has come under repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks during the Iran war, which trapped around 20% of global LNG supply in the Gulf before some shipments resumed recently.
The vast Ras Laffan LNG production and export site had 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 Reutersthe damage would take three to five years to repair.
Ramp-up challenges
A number of oil and gas production facilities have shut in production during the Iran war, and the incident highlights the challenges Gulf producers face as they ramp up output.
Barzan supplies pipeline gas for local industry and power generation and can produce liquefied petroleum gas and other products for export.
The war also forced QatarEnergy to evacuate about 10,000 workers from offshore rigs and onshore processing plants. The company reported no injuries during the March missile attack.
