Restaurant's curry appeal for Nepal floods

A Nepalese restaurant owner is asking people to pay for two curries when only ordering one to raise funds for those affected by deadly flash floods in his home country.

More than 1,500 people have been reported missing after the flooding hit near the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday, with the death toll rising to 547 as of Friday.

Sharma Hem, the owner Balti Curries in Falmouth, Cornwall, went to college in Gajuri and said he knew people who had lost their loved ones in the flooding.

The owner said he had organised his kitchen into a fundraising centre and had already been encouraged by people in Cornwall offering their support.

Hem said: "It is very sad time for the Nepal, [but] in Cornwall - how they're supporting at the moment is amazing."

Hem, who has run his restaurant since 1998, said he was "very proud" to live in Cornwall and planned to do charity lunches alongside asking to pay for an extra curry to help raise funds.

"I'm proud to be doing this charity thing and it [brings] me more happiness in my life," he said.

"The Cornwall people always help in any charity I'm doing."

Hatty Carder is part of the team from Shelterbox, a disaster relief charity, which is heading to Nepal to provide support on Sunday.

Carder said the main things they were expecting to provide were emergency shelters, solar lights and blankets.

"We are sending a Shelterbox team to meet with partners and to understand where affected people are living and how we, a charity based in Cornwall, can support best," she said.

Carder said as rescue efforts were still ongoing, it was "hard to access many of these remote villages in mountainous regions".

"Once our team have travelled there, we'll get a better understanding of where that need might be," she added.

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