Thirteen Pakistani and Indian nationals were killed after an explosion at Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas complex, attributed to a technical malfunction. The Minister of State for Energy Saad al-Kaabi announced the casualties and confirmed an investigation into the incident.
Al-Kaabi said the explosion was “an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature.” He announced the tragic loss of 13 lives, all holding Indian and Pakistani nationalities.
Sixty-six people were reported injured and were receiving medical treatment, none of whom were in life-threatening condition. The injured hold Qatari, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Tanzanian, Nigerian, and Nepalese nationalities.
The explosion occurred during the restart of operations at the Barzan local gas supply facility, which had been halted since December 2025 for maintenance and was restarted two days before the blast. Essential services responded and the fire was extinguished by late Sunday night.
Pakistan’s embassy in Qatar expressed deep sorrow over the incident and confirmed it is in contact with Qatari authorities.
Al-Kaabi confirmed the explosion would not affect LNG exports or local requirements, and that there was no environmental impact. Ras Laffan is QatarEnergy’s primary site for LNG production, with an annual capacity of 77 million metric tons.
