54 injured, 18 missing after explosion at Ras Laffan LNG site

Fifty-four people were injured and 18 remained unaccounted for after an explosion and fire on Sunday at the Barzan local gas supply facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar’s Interior Ministry and QatarEnergy said.
According to media reports,the blast occurred in the evening during start-up operations, officials said. Emergency teams were dispatched immediately, and the blaze was later brought under control. The interior ministry described the event as an internal explosion caused by a technical malfunction and said there was no leakage that threatened public safety.“Search and rescue operations are ongoing to locate those missing,” the ministry said, while QatarEnergy confirmed the incident and the deployment of emergency response teams. According to agency reports, injured workers were being treated in nearby hospitals; 

Operational Incident at 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 Barzan local gas supply facility in the evening hours of…

— QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) June 21, 2026

Ras Laffan is home to Qatar’s main liquefied natural gas processing complex and any disruption there can ripple through global energy markets. The plant is central to Qatar’s exports and to domestic gas supplies, and the timing of the blast during start-up has raised immediate concern among energy analysts.The facility has a fraught recent history. Earlier this year, and in March, strikes and drone attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure forced Qatar to pause parts of its LNG output, and officials estimated some damage could take years to repair. At the time, Qatar’s energy minister warned that recent attacks would cut export capacity by roughly 17 percent and that full restoration could take three to five years.
Qatar has been working to restore production levels at Ras Laffan. The country aims to restore 80% of production at Ras Laffan within two months of the Strait of Hormuz reopening safely,stated reports. Markets are closely watching the process, as a quick recovery could help bring down global energy prices.