Austrian incest father planned dungeon for years

By Karin Strohecker

VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian man who held his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered seven children with her had planned the construction of her basement prison years in advance, police said on Monday.

Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, was kept prisoner in a windowless dungeon under the family home, whose original part was built in the late 19th century while an extension was finished in 1983.

"Already in the planning phase there was an intention to add something within this regular building -- something unknown, something out of sight of the construction authority, a small area, a little secret, a little dungeon," said the head of the police investigation, Franz Polzer, at a news conference.

Josef Fritzl, 73, in a case that has generated headlines around the world, has admitted keeping Elisabeth in a cellar for 24 years.

Three of her children had spent their entire lives underground with her until the case was uncovered just over a week ago.

Elisabeth, who says her father abused her from when she was 11 years old, says she was drugged by him and locked up in the basement when she was 18. When her father submitted the plans for the extension of the family home to authorities some 30 years ago, she was around 12 years old.

A total of eight doors fitted with locks secured the entrance to the basement prison, police said.

Prosecutors are investigating Fritzl for rape, incest, coercion and the death of one of the children, a baby whose remains he burned in a furnace.

INCESTUOUS RELATIONSHIP

The case unfolded just over a week ago, when the eldest child of the incestuous relationship, a 19-year old daughter, became seriously ill and was taken to hospital.

The young woman remains in an artificial coma and needs artificial respiration, said her doctor Albert Reiter on Monday.

"Her condition has somewhat improved and stabilized over the past few days," Reiter told the news conference.

"But I cannot give a prognosis on how long she will remain in which condition."

Doctors said that the condition of Elisabeth and her children -- two sons aged 18 and 5 were imprisoned with her -- had improved.

"The light, the fresh air and the balanced nutrition are doing them well," said Doctor Berthold Kepplinger from the hospital in Amstetten where the family is being treated.