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An explosion at a factory in Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City injured 54 people and left 18 others missing, the country's Interior Ministry said early Monday, as search and rescue teams worked to locate those unaccounted for.
"A total of 54 people were injured in the incident that occurred at a factory in the Ras Laffan Industrial City," the ministry said in a post on X, adding that authorities were searching for 18 missing people.
The Qatar International Search and Rescue Group of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya), working with Civil Defense teams, is conducting the search operations.
QatarEnergy confirmed the incident occurred during the start-up of operations at the Barzan local gas supply facility within Ras Laffan Industrial City.
"QatarEnergy confirms that there was an operational incident during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility in the evening hours of Sunday, June 21," the company said in a statement on X.
"Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the fire, which is now under control. QatarEnergy will continue to communicate the latest available information," the company noted.
The Interior Ministry said the explosion was caused by a technical malfunction and that civil defense teams responding to the scene had not recorded any leakage from the facility that would pose a danger to public safety, according to an earlier statement issued Sunday.
The ministry did not provide details on the conditions of those injured.
Neither the ministry nor QatarEnergy linked the explosion to any outside cause.
Ras Laffan Industrial City, located about 80 kilometers north of Doha, serves as the hub of Qatar's natural gas sector and hosts major liquefied natural gas production and export infrastructure tied to QatarEnergy, the state energy company.
The facility is home to the world's largest LNG export operation, producing about one-fifth of global supply.
In March, the Qatari government announced that the industrial hub had sustained "significant damage" after being targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks.
QatarEnergy subsequently invoked the force majeure clause in some of its contracts to free itself from supply obligations following those attacks, affecting customers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China.
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