A CHESTER takeaway owner has pledged his support to help millions of people effected by the devastating Pakistan floods.
Tahir Majeed, 40, who owns Blue Chilli in Boughton, will donate 100 per cent of his profits to the flood relief effort on Wednesday, September 1.
Mr Majeed will give the money from one of the busiest days of the week to help millions of people who have been left hungry and homeless.
His family, who live four hours away from the main site of devastation in Faisalabad, have travelled to the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab to help with the effort.
Unusually heavy monsoon rains led to flooding that began in late July and has now affected 17 million people, according to United Nations - roughly one-tenth of the population.
An estimated 1,600 people have died, the United Nations said, and only one million of the estimated six million people in need have received emergency shelter.
It is now believed that some 800,000 people can now only be reached by air, but Mr Majeed said that his family have joined in with the relief effort on a more local level.
He said: "My cousin, my brother and my friends took a lorry load of food to the area to help people on the ground. The situation with charities getting food and aid to people over there is not very good - nothing seems to be getting through and it has not been very effective.
"But local people have really pulled together and help to supply those who are in need - the best thing is that they know the area and they can help people quickly."
Mr Majeed relived the horrors of seeing the tragic scenes in his home country on TV news coverage.
"It is just terrible watching the news and seeing how these people have suffered," he added. "It is a very, very bad situation and I want to help my family and do all I can to help the people out there."
Mr Majeed aims to raise as much money as possible by selling food at his popular takeaway restaurant. He is urging members of the public to lend their support.
He added: "Two students from Glyndwr University have offered to help me on the day as we expect to get very busy. Everyone is doing what they can in Pakistan and I would urge people to do the same here to raise as much money as we can to help the relief effort."
Meanwhile, more rain threatened Pakistan on Wednesday as aid workers pleaded for more help and helicopters to reach hundreds of thousands of people isolated by record floods.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department forecast thundershowers and occasional heavy rain into Friday in Punjab Province, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and Kashmir.
On Tuesday the United Nations called for 40 more helicopters from the international community to help ship aid to people isolated by the flooding.
“These unprecedented floods pose unprecedented logistical challenges and this requires an extraordinary effort by the international community,” John Holmes, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a prepared statement.
Mr Majeed plans to send the money to his family in Faisalabad who will transport lorry loads of food to badly hit, but accessible areas, that have been affected by the floods.