Fearing COVID-19’s impact on economy, German finance official commits suicide | Canoe

The finance minister of the regional state of Germany’s financial centre Frankfurt, Thomas Schaefer, committed suicide.

In a joint statement from police and the public prosecutor’s office on Saturday, Schaefer – who led the finance ministry of Hess for almost a decade – was found dead next to railway tracks near Frankfurt.

Authorities gave no information official motive behind Schaefer’s death, concluding he killed himself due after “extensive crime scene work, the questioning of numerous witnesses, the situation on site and the technical and forensic evaluations and investigations,” Reuters reported.

However, on Sunday, German State governor Volker Bouffier said the Schaefer’s death was linked to the COVID-19 crisis.

Bouffier said Schaefer stressed about whether “it would be possible to succeed in fulfilling the population’s huge expectations, particularly of financial help.”

“I have to assume that these worries overwhelmed him,” Bouffier said, as reported by The Associated Press. “He apparently couldn’t find a way out. He was in despair and left us.”

The 54-year-old Schaefer was expected to succeed Bouffier if he decided not to seek re-election in 2023.