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What next for the Fritzl case?

Sunday 04 May 2008 00:00 BST
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Kerstin Fritzl: Now feared to be losing her fight for life, as she lies in Amstetten hospital with multiple organ failure two weeks after her admission.

The investigation: Police now searching cellar for traces of DNA of any possible accomplice. After that, they will bring in sonar equipment to look for more hiding places. Officers can work only one hour at a time because of the severe lack of oxygen. Police will also question more than 100 people who lived in Fritzl's house during his daughter Elisabeth's captivity, and others who say they knew him.

Elisabeth and her children: Being cared for at clinic, which has provided them with a confined space similar to cellar into which they can retreat. Will require years of therapy, and the older children, and Elisabeth, may never lead normal lives. Authorities offered to give them, and other members of the clan, new identities.

Josef Fritzl: Held in custody facing charges of incest, rape and false imprisonment. Also a possible "murder through failure to act" charge in connection with baby who died in the basement – and, with Kerstin, too, if she dies. Links to other sex crimes being examined. So far has said little, save to admit fathering the children, and that he imprisoned his daughter to "save her from drugs".

Austria: The President has proposed, in order to restore the nation's image, that most modern of elixirs: a public relations campaign. Others have urged Austrians "not to look the other way" in future.

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