An explosion at a gas processing facility within Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City has left 13 people dead and 66 others injured, marking one of the country’s most serious industrial accidents in more than two decades.
The blast occurred on Sunday evening at the Barzan gas processing plant, where operations had resumed only two days earlier following an extended shutdown for maintenance. Qatar’s Energy Minister, Saad al-Kaabi, said the incident resulted from a technical accident and stressed there was no evidence of sabotage or any hostile act.
Those killed were citizens of India and Pakistan, while all 66 injured individuals are receiving medical treatment. None of the injured is reported to be in life-threatening condition.
The Barzan facility had remained out of service since December 2025 because of urgent maintenance work. Al-Kaabi said the explosion happened during the restart phase, a period that can present significant operational challenges for large industrial facilities.
A full investigation has been launched by state-owned QatarEnergy to determine the cause of the accident. Authorities also said the incident posed no environmental threat.
Although the explosion triggered a fire at the processing facility, Qatar’s liquefied natural gas infrastructure was not affected. Al-Kaabi said LNG production facilities, Ras Laffan Port and associated logistics operations continued to operate normally, adding that the country’s export capability remains unchanged.
Barzan primarily processes natural gas for Qatar’s domestic power generation and industrial sectors while also producing liquefied petroleum gas and other export products.
The accident comes as Qatar’s energy sector continues to recover from disruptions linked to the regional conflict involving Iran. Earlier this year, Iranian missile strikes damaged two LNG production trains at Ras Laffan, reducing national output by roughly 17%. QatarEnergy has previously indicated that repairs to the affected facilities could take between three and five years.
The conflict also forced the temporary evacuation of around 10,000 workers from offshore platforms and onshore processing facilities. No injuries were reported during the earlier missile attacks.
Despite the latest incident, officials emphasized that the explosion is unrelated to the regional security situation. The investigation will focus on identifying the technical factors that led to the accident and determining what measures are needed before the affected processing unit resumes operations.
The explosion ranks among the deadliest accidents involving gas processing infrastructure since the 2004 disaster at Algeria’s Skikda LNG complex, where 27 people lost their lives.
