Train Tracks Cracked Before Deadly Crash in Spain

In Spain, a high-speed train disaster left 45 people dead last Sunday. Investigators found that the train tracks had a big crack before the crash. The train, run by a private company, derailed, and its last three carriages hit another train coming from the opposite direction. The investigation shows that the train's wheels had deep grooves. Three other trains that passed over the same tracks earlier that day also had similar grooves. This suggests the tracks were already damaged before the crash.The crash happened around 7:45 PM local time, about an hour after the train left Málaga for Madrid. The last three carriages derailed and collided with a state-operated train heading to Huelva. Most of the people who died were in the front carriages of the state train. The Spanish Transport Minister said it's too early to know for sure what caused the crash. He mentioned that if the crack in the tracks was the cause, it happened just minutes or hours before the derailment and couldn't have been detected in time. This accident is Spain's worst rail crash in over a decade. In 2013, another high-speed train derailment in Galicia killed 80 people and injured 140 others. This shows that even with advanced technology, train safety remains a critical issue.