German Finance Minister Thomas Schaefer commits suicide as coronavirus hits economy

Berlin : Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany's Hesse state, has reportedly committed suicide amid fear of how to cope with the economic fallout due to coronavirus pandemic, state premier Volker Bouffier said Sunday. 

The 54-year-old minister 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 are immensely sad," Bouffier said in a recorded statement.

Bouffier recalled how Schaefer was working all day and night to keep up with the companies and workers to deal with the economic impact due to pandemic.

"Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried," said Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel. "It's precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him," he added.