By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-30 17:20:22 | Updated at 2024-10-30 19:31:22
2 hours ago
The Halifax Walmart store in Nova Scotia, where a 19-year-old girl was found dead in a walk-in oven, has been officially allowed to reopen.
The store was under a stop-work order which covered the bakery area of the Mumford Road Walmart and 'a piece of equipment' following the death of Gursimran Kaur.
Her grieving mother found the 'charred remains' of her daughter at the store they both worked for two years after moving to Canada from India.
She had noticed her daughter missing from the shop floor for over an hour, with her phone unusually turned off and unreachable. It was then a colleague in the bakery section pointed out a 'leakage' from inside the walk-in oven, where her mother found Kaur's remains.
'The mom is shattered. She’s psychologically in pain, agony,' Maritime Sikh Society secretary Balbir Singh told CTV News.
'The stop work order was lifted when compliance was confirmed, allowing bakery operations to safely resume should Walmart decide to do so,' the province's Department of Labor, Skills and Immigration said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gursimran Kaur, 19, tragically died in the Halifax superstore she worked at in Nova Scotia on Saturday night
The duo began working at Walmart together two years ago, shortly after arriving to Canada from India
A spokesperson for the store, however, told Global News that it will remain closed until further notice.
The investigation into Kaur's death remains underway as to how the tragic event took place. A disturbing revelation came to light only last week after sources told CBC News that the appliance within the Halifax store 'did not lock'.
A series of TikTok videos have been circulating online of other Walmart employees demonstrating stepping inside other Walmart ovens and using the emergency release from inside.
'This door does not close by itself... It doesn't latch. It's designed not to do that. You have to push it, hear the click,' one employee said in a video.
She commented later that she wasn't trying to 'theorize or form a conspiracy', but that the tragic situation was 'hard to wrap my head around' when Walmart's bakery ovens 'are so safe to use'.
Officials are urging the public to resist speculation until the investigation is completed. The exact model of the oven has not been revealed but, according to online speculation, each Walmart is equipped with the same model.
In one TikTok video, a Walmart employee demonstrated how much force was required for the oven to close
While the exact brand of the oven involved in the incident has not yet been revealed, other Walmart stores around the United States are known to have ovens like the one pictured installed
Both Kaur and her mother were members of the Maritime Sikh Society who set up a Go Fund Me to help the family's 'unimaginable and indescribable' bereavement.
The fundraiser said that Kaur's father and brother remained in India, but there are now frantic efforts to get them both to Canada.
The Walmart spokesperson has said employees scheduled to work will continue to be paid, and other 'work arrangements' will be considered should the closure go on for 'longer-than-anticipated'.
Walmart officials said in a statement 'we are heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our associate and their family. We extend our sincerest condolences to those who were closest to them
'We're also supporting our associates during this incredibly difficult time and have provided access to 24/7 virtual care and will provide on-site support, including grief counselling.'
Kaur is remembered as a 'beautiful girl who came to Canada with big dreams'.
