Incest victim agrees to TV appearance

VIENNA, May 19 (UPI) -- An Austrian woman held captive in a cellar for 24 years by her father, with whom she had seven children, has agreed to a series of interviews about the ordeal.

Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, stands to earn millions of dollars in syndication rights in exchange for appearing on Austria's ORF-TV later this month, The Daily Mail reported Monday.

Fritzl will be interviewed by journalist Christoph Feurstein about the first time she was raped by her father, Josef, 73, and how she coped with giving birth to children alone in a dungeon.

Sources say the interview is intended to reduce pressure on the family from the hoard of journalists and photographers camped outside the hospital where Fritzl, her mother and five of her six surviving children are staying.

It was agreed to after marathon negotiations between the TV station and Fritzl's attorney.

More than 300 television stations around the world are expected to pay for the right to carry the interview, tentatively scheduled to be broadcast May 26 in Austria.