An explosion and fire at a Qatari natural gas site left 13 people dead and 66 injured on Sunday, according to the country’s energy minister.
Saad Sherida al Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister and the CEO of QatarEnergy, confirmed on Monday morning that the operations incident was an accident. The incident occurred when workers were restarting operations at the Barzan plant, which had been shut down since December, in the major industrial area of Ras Laffan.
“I would like to emphasize that this was an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature,” the energy minister said on Monday. “The Barzan plant production was intentionally completely stopped since December 2025 due to urgent maintenance requirements. It was first restarted again only two days ago.”
The explosion comes about three months after Iran hit the key liquefied natural gas area with retaliatory strikes, sending the energy markets into further volatility during the Iran war. Iran struck the Ras Laffan Industrial City in mid-March after Israel hit Iran’s South Pars gas field. At the time, al Kaabi said the Ras Laffan attack impacted 17% of its export capacity and cost QatarEnergy about $20 billion in annual revenue, though production was already halted at the facility due to the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.
Al Kaabi said during the Monday press conference that the 13 dead include Indian and Pakistani workers at the facility. The state-owned company has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the incident, as other logistical operations at the Ras Laffan Industrial Area remain unaffected by the explosion, he said.
VANCE EXPLAINS TRUMP’S THREATS DURING NEGOTIATIONS AS A RESPONSE TO IRAN’S ‘TRASH TALK’
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those who lost their lives and our praise for the swift recovery of those injured,” Al-Kaabi said.
He said none of the remaining injured workers have life-threatening injuries and that the fire is now under control after the emergency response to the scene.
