On October 19, tragedy struck when a teenage employee, Kaur, went missing from the shop floor for over an hour, with her phone unusually turned off. Her mother, who was also working at the store, grew concerned.
A bakery colleague then pointed out a “leakage” from inside the store’s walk-in oven.
By the time emergency responders arrived, Kaur had died inside the industrial oven. Her mother discovered her charred remains. Police ruled out foul play in November, but the store remained closed for renovations until February 3.
The store has now reopened. “It’s great to have our customers and our associates back in the store,” said Nick Ritcey of Walmart Canada’s corporate affairs. “Obviously the tragedy is still top of mind and it’s something that will be sad forever.”
Ritcey confirmed that all 325 staff members were paid during the store’s closure and Walmart continues to be in contact with Kaur’s family.
“Three months is still very recent for that magnitude of a tragedy. We’ll continue to work out the best situation possible with them,” he added.
Following the police clearance to reopen, Walmart confirmed the walk-in oven would be removed.
Walmart spokesperson Amanda Moss stated: “This is an extremely sad and difficult situation. Removing the oven had always been part of the standard remodel program we are implementing across the country. Now that the stop-work order has been lifted, the oven will be removed from this store.”
The investigation into Kaur’s death is ongoing. However, troubling information has surfaced, with sources revealing that the oven at the Halifax store “did not lock.”
A series of TikTok videos have since circulated, showing Walmart employees demonstrating the emergency release mechanism on similar bakery ovens.
“This door does not close by itself… It doesn’t latch. It’s designed not to do that,” one employee explained in a video, adding that the tragic situation is “hard to wrap my head around” because Walmart bakery ovens are “so safe to use.”
Questions are now being raised about why Kaur’s phone was turned off and why she couldn’t call for help.
At the time of the tragedy, Kaur and her mother were the only family members in Canada, with her father and brother still in India.
