The incident in Ras Laffan Industrial City was caused by a technical malfunction, the authorities said
A massive explosion and fire hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City on Sunday evening, with the authorities attributing the incident to a “technical malfunction” during operations at a local gas facility rather than an attack.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry initially said an “internal explosion” occurred at a factory in Ras Laffan due to a technical incident, adding that civil defense teams were responding and that there was no threat to public safety.
At least 54 people were injured in the blast and 18 others are considered missing, the ministry said in a later update, adding that search-and-rescue operations are continuing.
QatarEnergy said theblastoccurred during the start-up of operations at the Barzan local gas supply facility in Ras Laffan in the evening hours of June 21. Emergency teams were deployed immediately, and the resulting fire has since been brought under control, the company said.
Videos circulating online show a large fireball lighting up the night sky, followed by a towering plume of smoke from the direction of the industrial zone.
Ras Laffan, located north of Doha, is one of the world’s most important gas-processing hubs and is central to Qatar’s liquefied natural gas industry. The complex was among the “US-linked” facilities that Iran hit earlier in the war in retaliation for theIsraeli strikeon its own South Pars gas field.
The incident comes as US and Iranian officials hold follow-up talks in Switzerland on a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with Qatar and Pakistan acting as mediators. The deal has been fiercely opposed by Israel, which has continued military operations in Lebanon despite the agreement’s call for an end to hostilities on all fronts.
Qatar has played a key mediation role throughout the crisis alongside Pakistan. The Swiss talks are focused on the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum, including maritime security, sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program, and the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz.
(RT.com)
