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An explosion at a gas facility in Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City injured several people on Sunday following what authorities described as a technical malfunction during operations.
Qatar's Interior Ministry said in a statement that the incident took place at one of the factories in the industrial area, located north of the capital, Doha, and is home to the country's major liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing operations. The ministry said the explosion did not result in any hazardous leak that would threaten public safety.
Authorities did not disclose the exact location of the blast within the sprawling industrial zone, nor did they specify the number of people injured or the severity of their conditions.
State-run QatarEnergy identified the site of the explosion as the Barzan local gas supply facility, saying the blast and the fire that followed occurred during startup operations in the evening hours.
The company said its emergency response teams succeeded in bringing the fire under control. QatarEnergy said it would release further updates as more information becomes available, but it did not immediately provide details on the cause of the malfunction or the condition of those injured.
The Interior Ministry said relevant authorities were continuing to deal with the incident as of Sunday, without giving a timeline for when operations at the facility might fully return to normal.
Ras Laffan Industrial City functions as the hub of Qatar's natural gas sector, hosting major LNG production and export infrastructure tied to QatarEnergy, the state energy company. Neither the ministry nor QatarEnergy linked the explosion to any outside cause.
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