Nearly $200K raised to support family of woman who died at Halifax Walmart

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the young woman who died at a Walmart store in Halifax on Oct. 19.

Organized by the Maritime Sikh Society Executive, the page names Gursimran Kaur as the 19-year-old woman who was found dead in a walk-in oven late last week.

The fundraiser is intended to raise money to help support the family through the “horrific time.”

More than $193,000 had been raised as of early Friday morning with the “entirety of the funds” to go directly to the “bereaved family.”

According to the GoFundMe, Kaur’s mother also worked at the Walmart store located on Mumford Road in Halifax’s west end. Both mother-daughter had worked there for the last two years after they came to Canada with “big dreams.”

On Saturday night, Kaur’s mother was trying to find her in the store, but couldn’t. She tried Kaur’s phone and it was not reachable, the fundraiser reads.

“Mother started panicking as it was unusual for her (Kaur) to switch her phone off during the day,” it reads. “She reached out to the onsite admin for help.”

That’s when the mother found her daughter in the store’s bakery walk-in oven.

“Imagine the horror that her mother experienced who herself opened the oven, when someone pointed out to it,” the GoFundMe reads.

Police have not released many details as they investigate.

A small memorial set outside the closed store started days after the news of Kaur’s death, with members of the Sikh community and colleagues paying their respects.

Halifax police spokeswoman Marla MacInnis told The Canadian Press the investigation is expected to be “lengthy.”

With files from The Canadian Press.