By Thomas Schaefer, finance minister of Germany’s Hesse state, has committed suicide after becoming “deeply worried” over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus.
Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe he died by suicide.
“We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we immensely sad,” Volker Bouffier said in a recorded statement, adding that Thomas, who was Hesse’s finance chief for 10 years, had been working “day and night” to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the novel COVID-19 pandemic.
