Replica bunker helps cellar children to adjust

Amstetten: Doctors have built a windowless chamber for the children of Josef Fritzl to retreat to when coping with the outside world becomes too much, it was revealed on Friday.

The move comes as Austrian psychiatrists warned it could take four to eight years of "intensive therapy" for the children to adapt to modern life.

The scale of the problem in rehabilitating the children has emerged.

Dr Bernhard Kepplinger, Director of the Amstetten-Mauer clinic where the family is being cared for, said: "Each child will need individual therapy and we should be careful not to overdo it.

"The children took some items from the cellar with them, for example, toys. In the clinic area, the children can shout, play and get to know their siblings from outside of the cellar. Physically, they are in quite good condition. And they love the clinic food."

Dr Kepplinger revealed he and his staff had created a container that resembles the dungeon so the children could adjust gradually to their new surroundings. It was reported yesterday that Stefan has problems with balance and co-ordination, having been brought up in rooms no more than 1.7 metres in height. Felix, who spent the least time underground, is given the best chance of making as full a recovery as possible.