Coronavirus Pandemic: Depressed Finance Minister Commits Suicide 

In a mind blowing turn of events, Germany’s Hesse state Minister of Finance, Thomas Scheafer, has committed suicide after suffering from deep depression over how the country will cope with the economic fallout as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

According  to the state premier Volker Bouffier on Sunday, 54 year old, Schaefer was found dead near a railway track on Saturday, the Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe he committed suicide.

“We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” Bouffier said in a recorded statement.

Hesse is home to Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt

A traumatized Bouffier recalled that Schaefer, 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 pandemic.

Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” he went further, ,”it is precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,”.

Popular and well-respected, Schaefer had long been touted as a possible successor to Bouffier.

Like Bouffier, Schaefer belonged to Merkel’s centre-right CDU party.

He is survived by his wife and two children.