Nine people killed in Doha restaurant explosion

Nine people have been killed when gas canisters exploded in a Turkish restaurant in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday, authorities have confirmed.

Thirty-two were wounded, three of them critically, the Qatar News Agency confirmed.

The explosion happened at the Istanbul restaurant next to a petrol station near the Landmark Mall, with nearby buildings suffering fire damage.

Emergency vehicles have attended the scene and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani is on site to oversee the investigation.

“Authorities are currently cooling the accident site, securing nearby shops and moving the affected things and parts from the scene,” the Ministry of Interior said on its official Twitter page.

It also reported some roads had been closed, so it appealed to motorists to use alternative routes in order to ease congestion in the area.

The Hamad Medical Corporation also appealed to the public to donate blood so it could attend to the wounded and to keep stocks high.

Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani, confirmed there had been an explosion in remarks to state television.

"Some deaths occurred that were announced, and there will be a press conference through the Ministry of Interior to give more information about the incident," said Sheikh Abdullah, who is also interior minister.

Asked if security regulations would be tightened up after the incident, he replied that "safety precautions are all there and the precautions for civil defence are there".

Photographs purporting to show the aftermath of the incident posted on social media showed chunks of masonry and cars apparently crumpled by the explosion lying outside the restaurant in a northwestern district of the city. A fire burned inside the building. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the images.