TIANJIN, China — 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. 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. 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. — Reuters
