MADRID, July 3 (Xinhua) -- More than 30 people have been killed and some 20 others injured in a subway train derailment in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Monday, local radio reports said.

    "We are still in the process of identifying the dead, but according to an initial estimate there are more than 30," regional government spokesman Vicente Rambla was quoted by radio Cadena Seras saying.

    The accident took place on the No. 1 line of Valencia's subway system as the underground train was leaving Jesus station en route to Plaza de Espana station, authorities said.

    The likely cause of the accident was that the train was traveling at high speeds and one of its wheels broke off on a curve, officials said, adding a tunnel wall had collapsed onto the carriage.

    About 150 passengers were evacuated from the station, and no more people were trapped in the subway, Spanish National Radio reported.

    The injured were rushed to hospitals and a makeshift hospital was also set up by emergency services on the street.

    Nearly 300 police and firefighters joined the rescue effort.

    Police cordoned off the area and the subway has stopped service.

    Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who was on a visit to India was informed of the accident and may cut short his tour, his office said.

    King Juan Carlos has expressed his condolences to families of the victims.

    Valencia, 350 km from Madrid, is one of Spain's biggest cities with a population of 800,000.

    The accident occurred only days before Pope Benedict XVI was due to visit Valencia on the weekend for the World Meeting of Families and pilgrims are already arriving in the Mediterranean seaside city.

    Reports said the Pope had been informed of the accident and went to his private chapel to pray for the victims.

    Other serious train accidents in Spain include one in June 2003 when a passenger train crashed head-on with a freight train in the town of Chinchilla in central Spain, killing 19 people. Enditem