German finance minister commits suicide over COVID-19 depression

Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany’s Hesse state, has committed suicide after allegedly “depressed” over the situation about how to tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus, PM of the state Volker Bouffier said on Sunday.

The 54-year-old Schaefer was found dead nearby a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe he died by committing suicide.

“We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” Bouffier said.

Bouffier, in a recorded statement recalled that Schaefer, had served Hesse’s finance chief for 10 years, he had been working “tirelessly” to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” Bouffier said, adding that “It’s precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him”.

Schaefer leaves behind a wife and two children.