Sawt Falasteen - Qatar gas plant blast kills 13, injures dozens

Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, which Saad al-Kaabi said was "an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature", despite earlier Iranian attacks targeting energy facilities in the Gulf during the Middle East war.

He announced "the tragic loss of 13 lives of our people who hold Indian and Pakistani nationalities. 66 people have been reported injured and are receiving medical treatment, none of whom are in life-threatening condition".

The interior ministry had said a "technical incident" caused the explosion late on Sunday in the Gulf emirate's Ras Laffan industrial zone.

The blast took place at a unit supplying gas to local firms and reverberated across the capital Doha.

"It will not affect anything regarding export. It will not affect anything regarding our local requirements," Kaabi said, adding that the explosion had "no environmental impact".

At the time of the explosion, AFP journalists in the Qatari capital heard the blast on the country's northern coast, 64 kilometres (40 miles) away. Another, 20 kilometres away, saw bright orange flames and a plume of smoke rising from the area, home to the world's largest liquefied natural gas hub.

- 'Internal explosion' -

Qatar's state-owned energy company said the blast erupted "during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at Barzan local gas supply facility".

Late Sunday, QatarEnergy said the fire had been brought under control after emergency response teams were deployed.

Ras Laffan had already been badly damaged in the US-Iran war as Iranian strikes targeted Gulf energy infrastructure and forced Qatar to halt gas production.

The deadly accident comes as hyrdocarbon-rich Gulf nations face challenges in boosting their output following Iranian attacks and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the export of oil and gas.

Kaabi said the status of the Strait and attacks on Gulf nations remained a "geopolitical, military issue" drawing a line between Sunday's explosion which he said was "different".

"We have to take it in stride and move on and learn from it," the minister, who is also QatarEnergy's chief executive, added.

Earlier, Qatar's interior ministry had described Sunday's incident as an "internal explosion" and a "technical malfunction".

- Leading gas producer -

According to QatarEnergy, the Barzan facility could previously provide 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day to local power generation and water desalination plants as well as local industries.

Kaabi explained Barzan's production had been stopped since December 2025 for maintenance and was first restarted again two days prior to the explosion.

ExxonMobil holds a seven percent share of the Barzan plant, with the Qatari state firm holding the remaining 93 percent, according to the US oil and gas giant's website.

Qatar, which shares the massive South Pars gas field with Iran, is one of the world's leading liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia.

But the tiny Gulf state ceased LNG production on March 2 after Iranian drone strikes hit key facilities.

Further damage from attacks on March 18 was expected to cut LNG export capacity by 17 percent and take three to five years to repair, Kaabi said at the time.

Major importers including China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium were among nations most likely to be affected, the energy minister said in March.

O.Farraj--SF-PST