Qatar’s state-owned oil and gas giant QatarEnergy has confirmed the launch of a probe into an explosion and fire incident that occurred at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and export hub, in which multiple workers lost their lives and sustained injuries.
An operational incident took place during the start-up of operations at the QatarEnergy LNG-operated Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility in the evening hours of Sunday, June 21, 2026. In response to the incident, emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the fire, which was brought under control.
QatarEnergy shed more light on the tragic incident the following day, confirming the deaths of 13 people. The company explained that 66 more workers were injured and receiving medical treatment, none of whom are believed to be in a life-threatening condition.
The Persian Gulf state’s giant extended its heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those who lost their lives, while praying for the swift recovery of those injured and pledging its full support to those affected by the tragedy.
The people who lost their lives in this incident are of Indian and Pakistani nationalities, while the injured are of Qatari, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Tanzanian, Nigerian, and Nepalese nationalities.
“QatarEnergy would like to emphasize that this was an operational accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature,” the firm underlined, while pointing out that Barzan production was intentionally completely stopped since December 2025 due to urgent maintenance requirements, and was first restarted two days before the incident.
The company’s emergency response team and Qatar’s Civil Defense swiftly and fully extinguished the fire onsite. Work is underway to assess the damage to Barzan and neighboring facilities. The project processes sour gas from wells on the North field offshore Qatar, which is delivered to the existing onshore gas plant at Ras Laffan Industrial City.
While elaborating that QatarEnergy’s LNG facilities, Ras Laffan Port, other logistics operations, and its export capabilities remain unaffected in the aftermath of this explosion and fire, the firm highlights that a full investigation has begun to determine the cause of the incident.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, visited the Embassy of the Republic of India in Doha to offer condolences on the tragic loss of 12 Indian nationals in the incident in the Barzan gas supply facility in Ras Laffan.
Expressing solidarity with the people of India, QatarEnergy’s CEO said: “The loss of innocent lives is a tragedy that touches all of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives during this tragic incident. We pray for the speedy recovery for those who were injured.”
The company revealed that one Pakistani national was among the 13 people who lost their lives in the unfortunate explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility at Ras Laffan Industrial City; thus, Al-Kaabi also visited the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Doha to offer condolences.
After the U.S.
and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran, which responded with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, QatarEnergy halted LNG production and associated products at some of its assets and followed the move with a declaration of force majeure to its LNG buyers.
Iran also carried out attacks on oil and gas facilities across the Gulf region, including the Ras Laffan Industrial City on March 18, in direct response to Israel’s attack on its giant South Pars gas field, which is known as the North field on Qatar’s side.
The attack caused significant damage to the Pearl GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility and was followed by further missile strikes in the early hours of March 19, 2026, on several of QatarEnergy’s LNG facilities, which suffered “sizeable fires and extensive further damage.”
