Walmart Bakery Oven Death, 19-Year-Old Found by Her Own Mother

Mandip Kaur was midway through her shift at the Halifax, Nova Scotia Walmart on Oct. 19, 2024, when she could not reach her 19-year-old daughter, Gursimran, by phone. After more than an hour of unanswered calls, she searched the store and opened the door to the bakery's walk-in oven. "I opened the door and she was there," Mandip later said. "I couldn't handle myself. I was there on the floor with her for five or 10 minutes. I didn't know what had happened."

Gursimran Kaur was dead inside the commercial oven in the store's bakery department, where they both worked. The sight made Mandip hyperventilate and collapse to the floor; she was eventually taken away as emergency responders arrived. "Within seconds, my life has changed forever," she said.

Halifax Regional Police investigated and ruled the death not suspicious, finding no evidence of foul play. A month after the incident, police acknowledged publicly that "there are questions that might never have answers." Nova Scotia's Department of Labour later released its own findings, stating that "investigators determined the oven was in proper working order at the time of the incident, and no safety violations were identified that could have contributed to the worker's death." The department also found "no broader safety concerns associated with the type of oven."

Mandip remains unsatisfied. The oven had a working interior release mechanism, and investigators have still not explained how Gursimran ended up inside or why she could not get out. The family also does not know how long she was in the oven or whether she screamed for help. "They couldn't find any solid thing. They don't know. They don't have any proof. No solid results," she said. "We are not satisfied."

The Mumford Road Walmart closed for four months and reopened in February 2025. Walmart Canada removed the walk-in oven and relocated the in-store bakery to another section of the store; the replacement units are not walk-ins. A company spokesperson said removing the oven "had always been part of the standard remodel program" being implemented nationally. Nova Scotia Labour Minister Nolan Young said in a statement: "Our thoughts remain with the worker's family, friends and co-workers as they continue to cope with this tragic loss."

A GoFundMe for the family raised close to $200,000 in 24 hours. The Maritime Sikh Society confirmed that Gursimran and her mother had moved to Halifax from India and both worked at the same store. Mandip described her daughter as a typical teenager who loved music, makeup and shopping for clothes, with a close bond to her 12-year-old brother.

Large walk-in commercial ovens can meet the regulatory definition of a confined space, which in those cases requires employers to maintain functional interior release mechanisms and clear exit procedures. If you work around back-of-house equipment and find a broken latch, a jammed door, or any mechanism that restricts exit, report it immediately to a department manager or assistant manager and document the conversation. If the concern goes unaddressed, Walmart's Global Ethics Hotline at 1-800-WMETHIC (1-800-963-8442) accepts safety reports from both U.S. and Canadian associates and explicitly prohibits retaliation against anyone who raises a hazard concern.

A workplace death affects every person who was on that shift. Walmart Canada associates can reach mental health support through the TELUS Health EAP. U.S. associates have access to no-cost therapy and coaching sessions through Walmart's associate well-being portal, with or without a medical plan. A Government Accountability Office analysis of federal safety compliance found that more than half of U.S. establishments required to submit workplace injury records to regulators failed to do so in studied years, a gap that allows equipment hazards to go uncorrected. Those gaps are how preventable deaths stay invisible.