A massive explosion at a gas hub in Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial zone killed 13 people and injured 66 others, the country’s energy minister said on Monday. Authorities are investigating the cause, which the minister described as an accident rather than sabotage, despite recent Iranian attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure.
The victims included 13 workers of Indian and Pakistani nationality. All injured persons are receiving medical treatment, and none are in life‑threatening condition.
The interior ministry identified a technical malfunction as the trigger for the blast that occurred late on Sunday. The explosion, which took place at a unit supplying gas to local firms, was felt across the capital, Doha.
According to the minister, the incident will not impact gas exports or domestic supply, and it has caused no environmental damage.
AFP reporters in Doha heard the blast from the northern coast, 64 km (40 mi) away, and observed bright orange flames and a smoke plume from the site, which hosts the world’s largest liquefied natural gas hub.
QatarEnergy said the fire was brought under control after emergency crews responded. The company added that the blast occurred during the start‑up of operations at the Barzan local gas supply facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The explosion follows previous damage to Ras Laffan during the US‑Iran conflict, when Iranian strikes forced Qatar to suspend gas production.
Gulf nations rich in hydrocarbons are currently grappling with production challenges after Iranian attacks and disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil‑and‑gas export route.
The minister emphasized that the recent incident is unrelated to those geopolitical tensions and called for lessons to be learned from the accident.
QatarEnergy noted that the Barzan facility, before the outage, could deliver 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to power plants, desalination units and local industry. Production had been halted for maintenance in December 2025 and was restarted two days before the explosion.
ExxonMobil holds a 7 % stake in the Barzan plant, with QatarEnergy owning the remaining 93 %.
Qatar, which shares the South Pars gas field with Iran, is a leading global LNG producer alongside the United States, Australia and Russia. The country halted LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone strikes damaged key facilities, and further attacks on March 18 were expected to reduce export capacity by 17 % and require three to five years for repairs, potentially affecting major importers such as China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium.