TORONTO, Oct 27 — A 19-year-old employee at a Walmart bakery in Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada was found dead in a walk-in oven last week.

According to news reports, Halifax Regional Police confirmed that Gursimran Kaur’s body was discovered by her mother in the October 19 incident after she couldn’t reach her for over an hour.

"Mother started panicking as it was unusual for her to switch her phone off during the day,” a GoFundMe page by the Maritime Sikh Society revealed.

Tragically, after several hours, her "charred remains were found inside the walk-in oven.”

"Imagine the horror that her mother experienced who herself opened the oven, when someone pointed out to it,” the page read.

A harrowing 911 call has been released by authorities in which a dispatcher directs emergency services to the store.

"Female is locked in an oven in the bakery. Oven is on,” the dispatcher said.

"Unsure if the staff are able to turn it off.”

Kaur and her mother had been part of the Walmart team for two years after emigrating from India.

Kaur's father and brother still live in India, and the Sikh Society is actively working to bring them to Halifax.

In just two days, the online fundraiser has raised over C$140,000 (RM436,371), surpassing its initial goal within 10 hours.

One supporter expressed the collective sorrow on the GoFundMe page, stating, "No one should ever die at work, and no one should ever see their child in that state.”

Walmart has temporarily closed the store while cooperating with the ongoing investigation and has provided counselling services for employees.

"We are heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our associate and their family,” a company spokesman said, while emphasising its commitment to supporting their staff during this time.

Locals have been leaving flowers and messages outside the store to honour Kaur’s memory.

Balbir Singh, secretary of the Maritime Sikh Society, expressed the community’s grief, urging local investigators to share their findings.

"It’s a really tragic incident and everybody is deeply hurt by this, and we are waiting for the police investigation to come out. We would like to know what happened to this young woman,” he said.