The Austrian Justice Minister Maria Berger has admitted that authorities have mishandled the Fritzl case for the first time and said that police and social services had acted “somewhat gullibly”. She said that the disappearance of Elisabeth in 1984, when her father kidnapped her but told authorities she had run away to join a religious cult, was “not sufficiently investigated”.

“Today, we would surely go about it differently and conduct a detailed investigation,” Mrs Berger said.