A 44-year old man suspected of having kidnapped and imprisoned a girl for the past eight years has committed suicide after his victim managed to break free on Wednesday, Austrian police said yesterday.

The man, identified as Wolfgang P., had thrown himself in front of an night express train in Vienna after running away from police, authorities said according to Austrian news agency APA.

The communications technician is suspected of having imprisoned Natascha Kampusch for the past eight years in a small cellar in his house in Strasshof, a hamlet on the outskirts of Vienna.

Following her eight-year ordeal, the now 18-year-old woman showed up on Wednesday in a garden close to the house where she had been kept and identified herself to a neighbour as the girl who went missing nearly a decade ago.

Ms Kampusch's disappearance without a trace on her way to school had sent shockwaves through Austria.

Her reappearance sparked a major manhunt for her captor on Wednesday. Neighbourhood witnesses said they had seen a car speeding away shortly after the girl re-emerged.

Police said they later found the red BMW sports car abandoned in a parking lot in Vienna and the key in Wolfgang P.'s pocket after his suicide.

Authorities said they had little doubt that the woman was really Ms Kampusch. Ms Kampusch's passport was found in her prison and she bore a scar that is identical to one of the missing girl.

Police said, however, that they were still awaiting a final DNA test.

Police said Ms Kampusch was in good physical health, although she looked pale and shaken when she was discovered. She bore no indications of having suffered sexual abuse.

The woman had been allowed occasional outings with her captor, yet had not fled because she apparently suffered from "Stockholm Syndrome" - a psychological condition in which long-held captives begin to identify with their kidnappers.