BEIJING, Dec. 31 -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate has begun investigation into 15 officials involved in a deadly factory explosion in east China's Kunshan city, they announced Wednesday.

The blast on Aug. 2 gutted a wheel hub polishing workshop in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province and left 146 dead.

The 15 government officials, including the city's production safety committee head Chen Yi and deputy head Huang Huilin, and deputy head of municipal security supervision bureau Lu Guanfeng, were suspected of crimes of duty dereliction, the SPP said in a statement.

Lu was also suspected of taking bribery, it said.

The SPP said it will find more evidence and soon prosecute them.

On Tuesday, the State Council, China's cabinet, punished another 35 people related to the accident. Guan Aiguo, secretary of the Communist Party of China Kunshan municipal committee, and Lu Jun, mayor of Kunshan, were both removed from their posts.

Three company managers were arrested in August. The preliminary investigation found that the explosion followed the ignition of excessive metal dust in the workshop.