Coronavirus: German Minister Commits Suicide Over Fears

A German state finance minister appears to have committed suicide after becoming “deeply worried” over the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak.

The body of Thomas Schaefer, the 54-year-old finance chief of the central Hesse state, was found near a railway track. Local prosecutors believe he took his own life.

While Germany has had nearly 54,000 confirmed cases, less than 400 have died from the virus but it hasn’t stopped the country suffering the economic fallout felt elsewhere.

“We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” said state leader Volker Bouffier. He said Mr Schaefer had been “day and night” to support companies affected by the pandemic.

Both men belonged to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party.

“Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” said Mr Bouffier.

“It’s precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,” he added.