Explosion at Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial zone leaves several injured

DOHA: A “technical incident” led to an explosion Sunday in Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial zone, causing some injuries, the Gulf state’s interior ministry said.

“An internal explosion occurred in one of the factories in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area following a technical incident,” the ministry said.

“Civil defence teams have begun handling the incident,” it added, after AFP journalists heard the blast in Doha.

In a later statement the ministry said a “technical malfunction” had “led to a number of injuries” without specifying how many people had been hurt or how seriously.

From 20km south of Ras Laffan on Qatar’s north coast, an AFP journalist saw flames illuminating the night sky and a plume of smoke rising from the area, home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas hub.

State-owned firm QatarEnergy said the blast occurred “during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at Barzan local gas supply facility”.

While Qatari authorities emphasised Sunday’s explosion was the result of an internal issue, the Ras Laffan hub had already been badly damaged in the recent war between the US, Israel and Iran.

Iranian attacks during the war targeted Gulf energy infrastructure including Ras Laffan, forcing Qatar to halt gas production.

The tiny emirate, one of the world’s leading liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia, halted LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone strikes hit key facilities.

Further damage from attacks on March 18 was expected to cut LNG export capacity by 17 percent and take three to five years to repair, Qatar energy minister Saad Al-Kaabi said at the time.