After a deadly explosion that left at least 68 dead and some 200 people injured, General Motors (GM) is asking its main Chinese supplier Dicastal to find a new provider for its components.

Although not affiliated directly with GM, the explosion happened at the Zhongrong Metal Products Co. Ltd. plant in the Chinese city of Kunshan in the Jiangsu province. Dicastal works with Zhongrong who according to the company website supplies wheels to GM and other car companies.

According to Reuters, GM refered to Zhongrong as a "Tier-2" supplier. Companies like Dicastal are Tier-1 component suppliers who are "required to source from Tier-2 suppliers who must meet both in-country environment and safety standards as well as quality standards," GM said.

GM also noted that the explosion did not cause any immediate impact on its production because it has enough inventory of the parts in stock. GM did not specify what the component that they receive from Dicastal.

A preliminary investigation reported that the blast took place in a workshop that polishes wheel hubs and was triggered by an exposed flame in a room filled with dust. The local government described the event as a serious safety breach.

The Associated Press reports that the explosion took place at 7:37 a.m. local time. Emergency responders pulled 44 bodies from the rubble and another 24 people died at the hospitals.

"We heard a really loud blast at about 7 a.m. this morning so we rushed out of our dormitories," said Zhou Xu who worked nearby.

"First the ambulance came, then as the news surfaced in the media, many families -- especially the wives -- rushed to the site to see if their husbands were okay."

Police took at least two Zhongrong senior executives into custody to assist in the investigation but no further details were given.

USA Today reports that Zhongrong is a Taiwanese Company founded in China in 1998 with a significant investment from Taiwan.

State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of large plumes of smoke raising from the plant while other news sources showed footage of blackened bodies, presumably form burns and or soot.

The Daily Mail reported that some of the survivors where seen sitting on wooden cargo platforms on the road with their clothes burned off and skin exposed.

People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's main newspaper, reports that the local government has been asking for citizens to help by donating blood and that medical staff has been sent in from Shanghai to help treat burn victims.

When asked by Reuters if GM conducts safety inspections of facilities run by lower tier suppliers, a GM spokeswomen in Shanghai said that she did not have any information.

Workplace safety is still a major problem in China despite improvements in recent years. This incident was the deadliest explosion since last year in June, when 119 workers were killed in a fire at a chicken procession plant. Officials said the fire appeared to have been caused by leaking ammonia.