The bad condition of dams in the Bulgarian town of Tsar Kaloyan caused the floods in which eight people drowned and 1.2 million sq m of agricultural land was destroyed.

Experts from the Bulgarian Amelioration Association concluded that the reason for the tragedy was a combination of intensive rainfall and dams in bad condition, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Experts said that the dams' dikes were in poor condition. The dike of the dam Ezerche-1 had been destroyed years ago and afterwards reconstructed, but technical requirement were not heeded.

The Ezerche-1 and Ezerche-2 reservoirs had to be emptied to take in flood water. The emptying of these reservoirs, which were being used as spawning ponds, increased the level of water rising towards the town.

Head of the expert committee Margarita Stefanova said that it was inadmissible to change the function of dams without preliminary planning.