The sad news of the suicide of the finance minister of Hesse state had shocked Germany in March. A second high-ranking member of the same ministry allegedly took his own life on Thursday, German media reported.

Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany's Hesse state, had committed suicide apparently after becoming "deeply worried" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier had said in March.

According to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), a second high-ranking member of the Hesse ministry of finance took his own life last Thursday. The RND cited an internal email that finance secretary Martin Worms allegedly sent to staff of the Wiesbaden-based ministry.

The exact circumstances remain unclear but the senior member of staff was found dead in his office, German media said, adding that initial police investigations pointed towards suicide.