Thomas Schaefer, Germany’s Minister Commits Suicide Over ‘Coronavirus Concerns’
The Finance Minister of Hesse state of Germany, Thomas Schaefer, was found dead on Saturday evening. According to the authorities, he seems to have commited suicide. The state governor suggested that he was in distress due to the fallout from the crisis caused by the coronavirus.
On Sunday, state governor Volker Bouffier said that Schaefer was concerned about the coronavirus pandemic and was worried about how to deal with the economic fallout that is caused due to coronavirus.
Thomas Schaefer was 54, and he was a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. He was found dead on Saturday near a railway track at Hochheim. The prosecution office of Wiesbaden said that they believe he committed suicide.
In a recorded statement, Bouffier said, “We are in shock, we are in disbelief, and above all, we are immensely sad.”
Prosecutors and police said that Schaefer killed himself. They concluded this on the basis of their observations and factors comprising questioning of witnesses.
Bouffier said that Schaefer was concerned about “whether it would be possible to succeed in fulfilling the population’s huge expectations, particularly in financial help.”
Bouffier said, “I have to assume that these worries overwhelmed him.” He further said, “He apparently couldn’t find a way out. He was in despair and left us”.
So far, Germany has recorded 62,435 cases of coronavirus, and these have been 541 deaths caused by the pandemic. In addition to this, 9,211 people recovered from the coronavirus.
The worst affected region by the coronavirus pandemic is Europe. It has surpassed China, where the coronavirus first emerged. In Europe, Italy has the highest recorded cases of coronavirus. There are 92,472 recorded cases in the country. Spain is the second country in Europe, having a high number of confirmed coronavirus cases, that is 72,248 cases.
Meanwhile, there are 723,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 34,000 deaths.
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