Sikh community rallies around family of Indian immigrant who died in tragic Walmart accident

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

A GoFundMe campaign, aimed at helping out the family of a teenage Walmart employee who died in an accident at one of the company’s stores in Halifax, Canada, has received over 5,100 donations, accumulating a total of 194,949 Canadian dollar (approx. $140,326) so far.

The victim, a 19-year-old Indian immigrant identified as Gursimran Kaur, was found dead inside a walk-in bakery oven at Walmart’s Mumford Road store on Saturday, October 19.

Now, the city’s Sikh community is rallying around the victim’s family. Halifax-based Maritime Sikh Society started the GoFundMe campaign to help the family out. According to the organizers, the target was achieved within 10 hours. In fact, the campaign has collected 390% of its target sum.

According to reports, Kaur and her mother — who found the body — immigrated to Canada from India around two years ago. Both mother and daughter worked at the same location.

Sharing details from the fatal incident, the page stated: “In that evening, like any watchful mother who breathed for her child’s happiness, Gursimran’s mother tried to locate her after not seeing for one hour. She asked around, but everyone brushed aside thinking that she may be somewhere helping a customer, Walmart is a superstore after all!.

“Her phone was not reachable. (Gursimran’s) Mother started panicking as it was unusual for her to switch her phone off during the day. She reached out to the onsite admin for help. As you all know now, her remains were found inside the walk in oven in the Bakery after a few hours.

“Imagine the horror that her mother experienced when she opened the oven, when someone pointed it out to her!

As per reports, police are investigating the case, and the cause and manner of her death, which is yet to be determined.

“The community has been shocked by the whole incident,” Harjit Seyan, president of the Sikh Society, told Canadian broadcast program Global News. “We are really upset.”

The Walmart store where the fatal accident took place has been closed until further notice.

“We are heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our associate and their family. Our focus remains on taking care of our associates and making sure they have the support they need,” a company spokesperson told NBC News. “As police have stated, this is a very complex matter and the investigation is ongoing.”

Top Photo: Gursimran image- https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-family-of-gursimran-who-lost-her-life-at-walmart, Walmart image- Walmart Corporate