Photo credit: Kurdistan24
An explosion at a factory in Qatar injured 54 people and left 18 missing, the Gulf state’s interior ministry said Monday.
Gulf News reports that according to the ministry, a “technical incident” caused the blast on Sunday in Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial zone. The ministry added that authorities were searching for the missing.
An AFP journalist 20 kilometres away 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”.
The interior ministry described the incident as an “instant explosion”, adding in a statement that a “technical malfunction” was to blame.
The blast could cause further chaos in global energy markets, particularly as Qatar remains one of the world’s top natural gas producers.
The scale of the damage remains unknown after the blast.
