A grieving mother has spoken for the first time about finding her 19-year-old daughter baked to death inside an oven at the Walmart store where both women worked.
Mandip Kaur said her panic began to rise after she was unable to reach daughter Gursimran Kaur on her phone during her shift at the store in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on October 19 2024.
Kaur assured herself that Gursimran was likely just helping a customer or on her break during her 3pm-11pm shift at the in-store bakery of the Canadian supermarket.
But her anxiety flared when she spoke to two duty managers at the store who both said they had not seen any sign of Gursimran.
The worried mother and the two managers began to comb the 105,000 square foot superstore.
Kaur said that as they approached the bakery, one of the managers noticed its commercial oven that was used to bake frozen bread leaking a black-brown liquid resembling tar from its rear end.
It was Kaur herself who opened the door of the oven – that reaches temperatures of 400 degrees – to find a nightmarish sight inside.
‘I opened the door and she was there,’ she said.
Gursimran Kaur, pictured, baked to death inside a Walmart oven in October 2024. Her mother has spoken for the first time detailing how she found her only daughter’s body
Gursimran died inside an oven like this one. Police say her death was not the result of foul play and last month health and safety bosses said there was nothing wrong with the appliance or any negligence on the part of Walmart
‘I couldn’t handle myself. I was there on the floor with her for five or ten minutes. I didn’t know what had happened.’
Speaking to the Daily Mail at the Halifax Sikh temple where she worships earlier this week, Kaur lowered her head and whispered as she stared at the floor.
‘Her body was not there. I could not see her.’
Kaur said Gursimran was inside the oven next to its baking racks, charred beyond recognition.
The liquid seen coming out of the back of the oven had come from her late daughter.
The awful sight caused Kaur to hyperventilate and collapse on the floor of the store.
A friend and co-worker quickly ushered Kaur away as paramedics and police rushed to the scene.
Recalling the horror that befell her family, Kaur spoke bravely and quietly with her hands clasped in her lap.
The Walmart store where Gursimran died is pictured earlier this week. It closed for four months after her death
The store’s bakery was moved to another section of the store and its ovens were replaced. The only ovens now visible are smaller models that staff can not walk inside
She and Gursimran moved to Canada from their native India in 2022 after obtaining permanent residency.
Her husband – Gursiman’s father – had planned to join them in the famously beautiful coastal province of Nova Scotia at a later date.
Kaur is haunted by not knowing how long Gursimran was inside the oven, if she screamed for help and how long it might have taken for her to die.
Last month, Nova Scotia’s Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration found there had been no workplace safety violations in relation to Gursimran’s death.
The oven, which has since been replaced with a new one, was found to be in good working order and the Department of Labour cleared Walmart of any wrongdoing.
Greg Hanna, Director of Communications for the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration told the Daily Mail Thursday that the oven where Gursimran died ‘could be opened from inside.’
He added: ‘‘No evidence was found that violations of occupational health and safety laws contributed to the death.’
Gursimran’s death was initially investigated as a possible homicide by Halifax Police.
Gursimran was a talented student who planned to become a doctor. She loved her family, friends and was happy, said her mother Mandip, who refutes any sugestion that her daughter’s death might have been a suicide
The newly-refurbished bakery inside Halifax Walmart. It is unclear if there is a walk-in oven in the private part of the kitchen, much of which sits out of sight
They quickly ruled out any suggestion of foul play and concluded the death was ‘not suspicious.’
Those findings have raised questions about whether Gursimran may have chosen to take her own life – a suggestion her mother refutes.
Kaur said Gursimran had spent the night before her death laughing and celebrating with family and friends.
She showed the Daily Mail photos of the get-together as proof of her daughter’s apparent contentedness, but did not wish to share them publicly.
‘Does she look depressed? She was so happy?’ Kaur said.
Gursimran was a bright student who was valedictorian of her class.
She excelled at the sciences and math and was planning on going to university to study medicine, her mother said, as further evidence that her daughter had everything to live for.
Kaur said she received a package Gursimran had ordered for herself after her death, suggesting she had no plans to end her life.
Floral tributes to Gursimran are tied to a lamp post outside the Walmart store shortly after her tragic death in October 2024
She added that she and her husband were happy to support Gursimran financially, but that the teenager had chosen to get a job at Walmart because she valued her independence.
Kaur said Gursimran was ‘always smiling, always laughing’ at work with the friends she had made at the store.
The 19-year-old was a typical teenager who loved music, makeup and shopping for clothes.
She got on well with her parents and was particularly close to her 12-year-old brother, Kaur said.
The mother said the lack of a definitive explanation for her daughter’s death has compounded her family’s agony.
‘After 18 months investigation they are unable to discover what happened,’ Kaur said.
‘They couldn’t find any solid thing. They don’t know. They don’t have any proof. No solid results. We are not satisfied.’
After Gursimran’s death, the teenager’s dad flew from India to Canada to be with Kaur and their 12-year-old son.
Mandip moved Gursimran and her son to the famously beautiful city of Halifax (pictured) in the hopes of starting a new life. Gursimran’s death has so devastated the family that they are now considering leaving
They eschewed a traditional Sikh funeral and instead held a service at their local gurdwara for Gursimran.
The family then took the teenager’s ashes back to India, where they scattered them into the ocean while surrounded by relatives and friends.
Kaur remains devastated by Gursimran’s death and frequently had to pause to collect herself while chatting to the Daily Mail.
She is unsure whether to remain in Canada, travel back to the UK where the family used to live, or return to India.
A GoFundMe for the family raised $200,000 in 24 hours.
Kaur said she is considering taking legal action against Walmart, although the recent ruling clearing the store of any wrongdoing means she faces an uphill struggle.
‘Within seconds, my life has changed forever,’ she said of the tragedy, with Kaur’s surviving son also struggling with the loss of his sister.
After Gursimran’s death, the Walmart store was closed for four months. It was renovated, with the bakery moved to a completely different part of the store.
When the Daily Mail visited this week, workers were busy stocking shelves and serving customers.
Three workers we approached said they could not speak about what had happened to Gursimran.
Over at the relocated bakery, bread, pastries and attractively-iced cakes lined its shelves.
The new ovens were visible and face towards its counters. They are smaller models than the one Gursimran died in and are not big enough to walk inside.
It is unclear if a larger version remains out of sight in a private area of the bakery.
Walmart Canada was approached by the Daily Mail for comment.
