AUSTRIA:AUSTRIAN AUTHORITIES are coming under pressure to evacuate Austrian kidnap victim Elisabeth Fritzl and her family from the clinic where they are under siege from paparazzi.
Photographers from around the world have been camped outside the clinic in Amstetten for three weeks and are going to new extremes to snatch the first picture of Ms Fritzl, imprisoned by her father for 24 years in their cellar.
The asking price for a picture of the still unseen Ms Fritzl has now risen to $1 million (€660,000), according to Austrian media, and several photographers have nearly claimed the prize.
At the weekend, one photographer tried to climb the 19th century facade of the clinic. He assaulted the security guard who dragged him off the facade.
On Monday, another tried to take pictures through the clinic fence of the Fritzl family as they played in the garden. He was chased away by a security guard, hid behind a tree and, when the guard caught up with him, hit him across the neck and shoulders with a stick. The 30-year-old guard was knocked out and is recovering in hospital with minor injuries; the photographer escaped.
"The greed of some reporters clearly knows no bounds," said local police chief Hans Heinz Lenze.
Despite the growing pressure, he rejected as speculation yesterday claims that the family would be moved to another facility. Instead, extra security guards were drafted in to the three different groups protecting the Fritzls from the media. From now on, they will patrol in groups of two, with police dogs.
Already an elite police unit, a private security firm and the local volunteer fire brigade have stopped 20 photographers reaching the family since they arrived on April 27th.