Indian national hoping for permanent residency dies in Canada car crash

Toronto: A 26-year-old Indian national, hoping to get permanent residency in Canada, died in a single-vehicle crash in the country's New Brunswick province.

Harwinder Singh, a resident of Mohali in Punjab, died on the spot in the December 26 crash on Highway 2 at Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska that left two others with non-life threatening injuries, the Global News reported this week.

Singh had worked at the Papa John's on Smythe Street in Fredericton since last summer and had dreams of opening up his own pizza shop, according to his co-workers.

They said that he worked on two jobs and was trying for permanent residency in the country.

The restaurant, which considered Singh as family, is now raising money for their deceased worker's fiancée and family.

Calling it a "heartbreaking" incident, restaurant’s owner Erica Vallis said they will donate all proceeds from Wednesday sales to help pay the costs to transport Singh's body back to India, as well as a funeral.

Donations streamed in throughout the day and by noon, the restaurant was approaching $15,000 in sales and over 250 orders.

"We are definitely beyond exceeding our expectations and it is amazing to see the support that we're getting with this," Vallis told the news outlet.

Just before the holidays, the staff, along with Singh, had donned Christmas headbands and posed for some lighthearted photos. Singh's colleagues said that would be their last memories shared with him.

"It's really heartbreaking how it ended up. We’re all a big family here, so it’s like we lost a family member and it’s really sad,” Ste Marie, a co-worker told Global News.