Indian Student Amitoj Kaur Dies in Nova Scotia Apartment Fire

24-year-old Amitoj Kaur was identified as one of the victims of the tragic fire that caught a residential building in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, earlier this month.

Kaur came to Canada to study and has been working with a cleaning service. With an ill father at home, she took the financial responsibility of her family in India and could not visit her family since 2020 when she came to Canada.

On June 10, a massive fire was reported at the residential building in the morning and by night, it was extinguished. Amitoj used to live in the basement and she got stuck when the fire started and she was the only one who was killed.

According to reports, the building was home to 10 residents and eight, including Amitoj, were Indians.

A neighbor said he was on his morning walk when his wife who was not at home and was visiting a friend informed him about the fire. He rushed back to find the building on fire. He and his neighbors believed that Amitoj was safe and maybe at her workplace.

Amitoj's uncle Gobind Nishan Singh launched a fundraiser for Amitoj, which raised over $51,000 (Canadian dollar).

"​​She came from India as an international student in 2020, full of ambition, hope, and big dreams for her future. Because of her deep sense of responsibility, she worked tirelessly and could never manage to go back home to visit. Her father is very sick, and her mother is a housewife; she took it upon herself to be the sole breadwinner and caretaker for her family back home. She carried their entire world on her shoulders. Her sudden and tragic departure has left her family completely shattered," the fundraiser said.

"As we navigate this unbearable grief, our immediate priority is to bring her body back home to India. We want to ensure her parents and family can see her one last time, hold her close, and perform her final rites with the love and dignity she deserves. ​The financial burden of international repatriation, legal documentation, and funeral arrangements is overwhelming. As a student's family, they simply cannot manage these high costs alone during this darkest hour," it said.

"As we navigate this unbearable grief, our immediate priority is to bring her body back home to India. We want to ensure her parents and family can see her one last time, hold her close, and perform her final rites with the love and dignity she deserves. ​The financial burden of international repatriation, legal documentation, and funeral arrangements is overwhelming. As a student's family, they simply cannot manage these high costs alone during this darkest hour," it added.

The uncle also clarified that he wan handling the funds and Amijot's grieving parents are elderly and are not tech-savvy and they can't handle the logistics from India.