BEIJING — A coffee shop operated by two former Coloradans was the intended target of a bombing that killed the bomber in southwest China on Christmas Eve.
Chinese authorities said Li Yan had planned to set off an ammonia-based bomb inside Salvador’s Coffee House, a Kunming cafe frequented by international travelers, Western expatriates and exchange students.
Colin Flahive and Josh Pollock, both formerly from Denver, opened Salvador’s in 2004.
The ammonium-nitrate bomb detonated prematurely in Li’s backpack about 10:30 a.m. as he left the rest room in the back of the restaurant, severing his legs, Chinese media reported. No one else was seriously hurt.
Authorities said it was unclear why Li chose Salvador’s.
Li died two hours later but confessed to two bus bombings in July that killed two people and wounded 14, three weeks before the Olympic Games in Beijing, according to wire reports.
Investigators said they found bombs in Li’s apartment and matched DNA found at both bus bombings.
According to Xinhua, Li was released from jail in 2006 after serving five years for robbery, assault and vandalism.
Kunming, Denver’s sister city, with a population of more than 4 million, is the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China.
Flahive told The Denver Post in a 2004 interview, “Authentic Western food is pretty rare here, so we’re one of the only options for people who want to go out with their friends and do something a little different.”
