* At least 21 firefighters among 56 killed
* Warehouse stored toxic chemicals and gas
* Official defends initial action of fire fighters
* Experts say initial use of water could have made situation
worse
* Many foreign firms sustain largely minor damage to
facilities
(Updates casualty figures)
By Adam Rose and Megha Rajagopalan
TIANJIN, China, Aug 14 (Reuters) - China on Friday defended
fire fighters who initially hosed water on a blaze in a
warehouse storing volatile chemicals, a response foreign experts
said could have contributed to two huge blasts that killed 56
people.
At least 21 fire fighters were among the victims of the
explosions at the port in the northeastern city of Tianjin on
Wednesday night, the official Xinhua news agency said, calling
it possibly the highest death toll among fire crews since the
founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
About 720 people were injured, 25 critically with 33 in
serious condition, in a nation all too familiar with industrial
disasters.
Columns of smoke from fires still burning on Friday rose
from the site amid crumpled shipping containers, thousands of
torched cars and burnt-out shells of port buildings.
Rescuers pulled one survivor from the wreckage, later
identified as a fire fighter, a city official told reporters.
The warehouse, designed to house dangerous and toxic
chemicals, was storing mainly ammonium nitrate, potassium
nitrate and calcium carbide at the time, according to police.
Xinhua has said several containers in the warehouse caught fire
before the explosions.
The State Council, China's cabinet, said a nationwide
inspection of dangerous chemicals and explosives would be
launched in response to the disaster, along with a crackdown on
illegal activities to strengthen industry safety.
"The disastrous explosions at the ... hazardous materials
warehouse at Tianjin caused huge loss of life and injuries,
economic damages and social impact," the State Council work
safety commission said on its website.
"The lessons are extremely profound."
Chemical safety experts said calcium carbide reacts with
water to create acetylene, a highly explosive gas. An explosion
could be caused if fire fighters sprayed the calcium carbide
with water, they said.
Lei Jinde, the deputy propaganda department head of China's
fire department, a part of the Ministry of Public Security, told
state-backed news website ThePaper.cn that the first group of
fire fighters on the scene had used water.
"We knew there was calcium carbide inside but we didn't know
whether it had already exploded," he said.
"At that point no one knew, it wasn't that the fire fighters
were stupid," Lei said, adding that it was a large warehouse and
they didn't know the exact location of the calcium carbide.
FIRE FIGHTERS STILL MISSING
CCTV reported that 13 fire fighters were still missing.
Xinhua said earlier that 66 firefighters were among the hundreds
of people hospitalised.
David Leggett, a chemical safety expert based in California,
told Reuters the acetylene explosion could have detonated the
ammonium nitrate. The two blasts were about 30 seconds apart,
the second much larger than the first.
"In my mind, the presence of ammonium nitrate makes it
easier to explain the level of devastation," he said.
Stuart Prescott, a senior lecturer in chemical engineering
at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said water
was recommended to extinguish the two nitrates but a chemical
powder was needed for calcium carbide.
The explosions at the world's 10th largest port were so big
they were seen by satellites in space and registered on
earthquake sensors.
Biochemical specialists said on state TV they were waiting
for workers to clear a road into the site so they could begin
assessing chemical contamination.
Several thousand residents were moved to 10 schools after
apartment buildings and homes were damaged.
Foreign companies were assessing damage to facilities in and
around the port, a gateway to northeast China, which accounts
for about 40 percent of China's imported cars, Xinhua reported.
French carmaker Renault RENA.PA said its warehouse at the
port sustained severe damage and an early estimate showed nearly
1,500 of its cars there were burned.
Several Japanese automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp
7203.T , reported minor damage to cars and facilities.
Mining giant BHP Billiton (LONDON:BLT) BHP.AX said its port operations
and shipments were disrupted but its iron ore discharging berth
had not been damaged. Oil tanker arrivals and departures were
also disrupted.
U.S. farm and construction equipment maker John Deere & Co
DE.N said several workers were injured, some critically.
PACKAGING VIOLATIONS
Xinhua identified the owner of the warehouse as Tianjin
Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics and the China
Daily newspaper said its manager had been detained.
The Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration said in a report
in January 2014 a safety inspection two years ago found several
cases where the company had violated packaging standards.
The company said on its website it was a government-approved
firm specialising in handling "dangerous goods". Phone numbers
listed on the site were disconnected and an email went
unanswered.
Industrial accidents are not uncommon in China following
three decades of fast growth. A blast at an auto parts factory
killed 75 people a year ago.
The blasts sent shockwaves through apartment blocks
kilometres away in the city of 15 million people. They shattered
windows in buildings and cars and knocked down walls in a 2-km
radius.