KATHMANDU, Nepal–At least three Nepalis were among 12 killed in a gas cylinder blast at a Turkish restaurant in Qatar, Thursday morning.
Another 32 were injured in the blast that reportedly took place at about lunchtime, and caused extensive damage to the Restuarant, which is next to a petrol station.
“It was a huge explosion,” local news agency QNA quoted public security chief, Major General Saad bin Jassim al-Khleifi as saying. Saad added that the gas tank had caught on fire before it exploded. “It was a very big blast,” he said. “It blew away cars and shrapnel was scattered 50m to 100m away.”
Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu confirmed the explosion adding three of the six bodies recovered from the blast site had been distinguished as that of Nepalis. The deceased are identified as Man Bahadur Khatri, Durga Karki and Tanka Bahadur Chhetri of Baglung in the western province of Nepal.
According to aljazeera.com, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani pledged to probe into the incident.