Search operation underway by Ministry of Interior, fire brought under control
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The Interior Ministry has confirmed that 18 people are missing in an explosion at the Barzan Gas Supply Center in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area of Qatar. 54 people have been injured in the incident. Nepali, Indian and Bangladeshi workers are working in the Ras Laffan area.
Qatar's Interior Ministry announced on social media at 4 am on Monday that a special operation has been launched to search for the 18 missing. The International Search and Rescue Team of the Internal Security Forces (Lekhiya) and a joint team of Civil Defense have intensified the search.
Qatar has not yet made the identities of the missing and injured workers public. The ministry has clarified that there was no 'safety-sensitive leak' after the incident.
Qatar Energy, a major company in Qatar's energy sector, has confirmed that the incident was a 'technical accident during initial operations'. The company said that emergency teams immediately brought the fire under control and that the situation is now fully under control.
A Nepali worker working in the Ras Laffan area said there was a huge explosion on Sunday evening. The sound was heard as far as the capital Doha. ‘We were not close.’ A huge fire was seen spreading from a distance,’ the Nepali told Kantipur, ‘It looked like a volcano had erupted.’
Ras Laffan is Qatar’s main LNG (liquefied natural gas) processing center. Nepali workers work as scaffolders in the area. Workers have been supplied through hundreds of supply companies.
