On April 1, Qatar's Interior Ministry confirmed an explosion had occurred at the Barzan liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the Ras Laffan Industrial City, about 80 kilometers north of the capital Doha. The blast injured 54 people and left 18 others missing.
The ministry said the Qatar International Search and Rescue Force was deployed to the site to search for the missing. Officials attributed the incident to a 'technical malfunction' but did not provide details on the condition of the injured.
Earlier, officials reported that civil defense teams at the scene had recorded no casualties. However, the Interior Ministry later asserted there was no leak from the plant posing a danger to public safety.
QatarEnergy, the state-run company that manages the industrial zone, said emergency response teams were dispatched immediately after the explosion at the Barzan plant and had brought the resulting fire under control.
Ras Laffan houses the world's largest LNG export facility, supplying about one-fifth of global output. Last March, the Qatari government announced that the industrial city had sustained 'significant damage' from missile and drone attacks by Iran. Following those attacks, QatarEnergy invoked force majeure clauses in some contracts to relieve supply obligations, affecting customers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China.
