--- description: "We're still confused by what really started it, what really happened" title: Tianjin Explosion Survivor Struggles to Rebuild His Home image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tianjin Explosion Survivor Struggles to Rebuild His Home by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 20, 2015 4:19 PM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 20, 2015 4:19 PM CUT An American who survived massive blasts that devastated the Chinese city of Tianjin said he and his girlfriend were struggling to recover after the disaster destroyed their home. “We’ve got to start over, there’s not much we can do but just start over and do the best that we can do,” Dan Van Duren told NBC News on Thursday. The explosions blew out many windows, forced doors off their hinges and littered glass and debris throughout the apartment. At least 114 people were killed and more than 700 hospitalized in the August 12 blasts at a chemical warehouse. Van Duren and his girlfriend… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/tianjin-blasts-tour-american-survivor-dan-van-durens-wrecked-home-n412986?cid=par-time-article%5F20150820 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4004832/tianjin-china-explosion-american-survivor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4004832/tianjin-china-explosion-american-survivor/"},"headline":"Tianjin Explosion Survivor Struggles to Rebuild His Home","datePublished":"2015-08-20T16:19:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:19:33.213Z","description":"\"We're still confused by what really started it, what really happened\"","url":"https://time.com/4004832/tianjin-china-explosion-american-survivor/","keywords":["China"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4004832/tianjin-china-explosion-american-survivor/","name":"Tianjin Explosion Survivor Struggles to Rebuild His Home"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Firefighters and Police Gather to Mourn Victims of the Tinajin Blasts","description":"Firefighters, police and officials held a moment of silence Tuesday for victims of last week’s huge explosions at a warehouse in the Chinese port city of Tianjin that killed at least 114 people and left 70 others missing.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/L6EHXVrw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-18T09:20:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L6EHXVrw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4004832/tianjin-china-explosion-american-survivor/","duration":"PT46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4004832/tianjin-china-explosion-american-survivor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```