German shipment of 6 million masks lost in Kenya

BERLIN

Nearly six million medical masks recently purchased by Germany have disappeared at an airport in Kenya, Der Spiegel a weekly German news magazine reported on its website on Tuesday.

German Defense Ministry has confirmed that authorities have begun an investigation into the incident, but did not provide any further details.,

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government had recently ordered nearly €241 million ($262 million) worth of medical masks, other protective equipment, and material to cope up with a potential shortage amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Due to arrive in the country on March 20, the missing mask shipment was one of the first major deliveries needed to gird Germany's health system, Spiegel reported.

Germany is the third-worst-affected country by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, after Italy and Spain.

According to John Hopkins Coronavirus Resources Centre, Germany has so far reported 30,150 cases and 130 deaths.

The coronavirus, first emerged in Wuhan, China last December and has spread to at least 168 countries and territories.

As many as 387,382 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with a death toll reaching to 16,767.