{"id":128123,"date":"2026-06-23T10:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=128123"},"modified":"2026-06-23T10:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:53:42","slug":"pakistani-indian-nationals-among-13-dead-after-technical-malfunction-at-qatar-lng-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after &#8216;technical malfunction&#8217; at Qatar LNG plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DOHA(National Times)- Pakistani and Indian nationals were among 13 killed after an explosion at Qatar\u2019s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex, attributed to a \u201ctechnical malfunction\u201d, Qatar\u2019s Minister of State for Energy Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, which Saad al-Kaabi said was \u201can accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He announced \u201cthe tragic loss of 13 lives of our people who hold Indian and Pakistani nationalities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state minister said that 66 people were reported injured and were receiving medical treatment, none of whom were in life-threatening condition. They hold Qatari, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Tanzanian, Nigerian and Nepalese nationalities, he&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenationalnews.com\/news\/2026\/06\/22\/qatar-says-ras-laffan-lng-complex-blast-killed-13-injured-66\/\">added<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">India\u2019s embassy in Qatar said local authorities had confirmed \u201cthat 12 Indian nationals have unfortunately passed away in the Ras Laffan incident\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The embassy said it was working in close contact with the Qatari authorities to extend \u201call possible help to the Indian nationals and their families affected by this incident, including ensuring that mortal remains of the deceased are sent to India at the earliest\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Pakistan\u2019s embassy in Qatar also expressed its deep sorrow over the incident and said it remained \u201cavailable to facilitate Pakistani nationals and their families in connection with the incident\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The embassy added that it was in contact with the relevant Qatari authorities. Any members of the Pakistani community requiring assistance may contact the embassy in Doha at +974 6679 0329 and +974 6648 6213.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qatar\u2019s interior ministry said the \u201ctechnical malfunction\u201d occurred on Sunday evening, with authorities confirming that the incident took place at the Barzan local gas supply facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The explosion occurred as workers were restarting operations halted after an Iranian&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1983488\">attack<\/a>&nbsp;in March. The blast took place at a unit supplying gas to local firms and reverberated across Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Kaabi, who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of state-owned QatarEnergy, said an investigation had been launched into the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt will not affect anything regarding export. It will not affect anything regarding our local requirements,\u201d Kaabi stressed, adding that the explosion had \u201cno environmental impact\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time of the explosion,&nbsp;<em>AFP<\/em>&nbsp;journalists in the Qatari capital heard the blast on the country\u2019s northern coast, 64 kilometres away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another&nbsp;<em>AFP<\/em>&nbsp;journalist, some 20km away, saw bright orange flames and a plume of smoke rising from the area, home to the world\u2019s largest liquefied natural gas hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qatar, which hosts a major US military base, has come under missile and drone attacks during the Iran war, which trapped around 20 per cent of global LNG supply in the Gulf before some shipments began to resume recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Kaabi drew a line between the status of the Strait and attacks on Gulf nations \u2014 which he said remained a \u201cgeopolitical, military issue\u201c \u2014 and Sunday\u2019s explosion which he said was \u201cdifferent\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to take it in stride and move on and learn from it,\u201d the state minister added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2009790\/pakistani-indian-nationals-among-13-dead-after-technical-malfunction-at-qatar-lng-plant#internal-explosion\"><\/a>\u2018Internal explosion\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Kaabi explained Barzan\u2019s production had been stopped since December 2025 for maintenance and was first restarted again two days prior to the explosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">QatarEnergy said the blast occurred \u201cduring the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which resulted in an explosion and fire at Barzan local gas supply facility\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By late Sunday night, the fire had been brought under control after emergency response teams were deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The industrial city is QatarEnergy\u2019s site for LNG production and export with an annual production capacity of 77 million metric tons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The missile attack in March struck two of its key gas-processing units, slashing about 17 per cent of Qatar\u2019s LNG export capacity, which QatarEnergy\u2019s CEO told&nbsp;<em>Reuters<\/em>&nbsp;would take three to five years to repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incident highlights the challenges Gulf producers face in ramping up oil and gas production from facilities shut in during the Iran war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qatar has been among the hardest hit by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as it has no alternative routes to export its LNG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Restarting LNG operations is a particularly complex process due to a deliberately slow cooldown to avoid thermal shock. LNG trains cannot restart simultaneously and must be brought back in sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the liquefaction process \u2014 which turns gas into a liquid state by cooling it down to approximately minus 162 degrees Celsius \u2014 the cooldown is the most critical step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war also forced the company to evacuate about 10,000 workers from offshore rigs and onshore processing plants. The company reported no injuries during the March missile attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOHA(National Times)- Pakistani and Indian nationals were among 13 killed after an explosion at Qatar\u2019s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex, attributed to a \u201ctechnical malfunction\u201d, Qatar\u2019s Minister of State for Energy Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday. Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, which Saad al-Kaabi said was \u201can accident and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after &#039;technical malfunction&#039; at Qatar LNG plant - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after &#039;technical malfunction&#039; at Qatar LNG plant - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DOHA(National Times)- Pakistani and Indian nationals were among 13 killed after an explosion at Qatar\u2019s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex, attributed to a \u201ctechnical malfunction\u201d, Qatar\u2019s Minister of State for Energy Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday. Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, which Saad al-Kaabi said was \u201can accident and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T05:53:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T05:53:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/\",\"name\":\"Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after 'technical malfunction' at Qatar LNG plant - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T05:53:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T05:53:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after &#8216;technical malfunction&#8217; 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Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, which Saad al-Kaabi said was \u201can accident and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T05:53:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-23T05:53:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/","name":"Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after 'technical malfunction' at Qatar LNG plant - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png","datePublished":"2026-06-23T05:53:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T05:53:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-30.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128123\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pakistani, Indian nationals among 13 dead after &#8216;technical malfunction&#8217; at Qatar LNG plant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128125,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128123\/revisions\/128125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}