Coffee bar explosion kills July bus bomber

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-28 14:22

KUNMING -- Evidence shows the coffee bar explosion on December 24 and two bus explosions on July 21 in southwest China's Kunming City were carried out by the same suspect.

Du Min, vice mayor and head of the public security bureau of Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, said a man named Li Yan was seriously injured Wednesday in an explosion at Salvador's Coffee House, a Western restaurant in Kunming at about 10:40 a.m.. Li was rushed to a nearby hospital but he died two hours later. The accident caused no other casualties or injuries. There was also little property damage.

After analyzing explosive traces and Li's DNA, police confirmed that Li was the suspect.

Du said on Saturday, Li was walking out of the bathroom when the ammonia bomb in his backpack unexpectedly exploded.

Further investigation by police showed Li, from Xunwei City in Yunnan Province, was sentenced to jail for nine years on November 15, 2001 for robbery, intentional injury and vandalism. He worked as an electrician at the jail. He was set free earlier for good conduct on May 30, 2006.

Police searched Li's apartment and found ammonia explosive, electric detonators, bullets and a self-made gun. They ascertained Li acquired the materials while doing road construction in July 2007.

Explosive traces from the coffee bar matched that from two Kunming bus explosions in July, leading police to link the three bombings.

The Institute of Forensic Science Ministry of Public Security of China and the Forensic Science Center of Public Security of Yunnan Province confirmed that biological evidence from the coffee bar and bus explosions matched Li's DNA and material found in his apartment.

Two people died and 14 were injured on July 21 as explosions occurred on two buses in Kunming. One happened around the Panjiawan bus stop at 7:10 a.m., and the other at the nearby intersection of Changyuan Road and Renmin West Road at 8:05 a.m..