German State Finance Minister Commits Suicide As Coronavirus Hits Economy

On Saturday, Thomas Schaefer, the 54-year-old finance minister of Germany's Hesse State, was found dead near a railway track. The Wiesbaden prosecution's office said they believe he committed suicide.

The Hesse State premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday that apparently the reason for his suicide was his "deep concern" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

"We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all, we are immensely sad… Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried," Bouffier said, adding later on that “it's precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,” as reported by the NDTV.

Hesse State is home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, the location of many major lenders’ headquarters like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, and the European Central Bank.

Popular and well-respected, Thomas Schaefer belonged to Angela Merkel's center-right CDU party and he leaves behind a wife and two children.

By Nini Dakhundaridze

Source: NDTV

Image source: Der Spiegel