Nepalese students ask for help

Bel Pun, 24, friends and fellow Nepalese students collect money for their homeland in Tauranga central. Photo / John Borren

Tauranga's Nepalese students yesterday lined a footpath in the CBD with signs saying "Pray for Nepal" and asking for donations to help their homeland.

Many of their homes had been destroyed and some had lost family members. They had limited contact with their families and no way to get home.

Twenty-four-year-old Bel Pun said the situation was "terrible".

Tauranga’s Nepalese students line the footpath with signs saying “Pray for Nepal”. Photo / John Borren

"We've been trying to contact our home but the network has been down.

"We can't do anything but support and pray ... Obviously we're trying to go home but we can't get tickets. We want to see our parents."

Most of the students had now been able to make contact with their families but in some cases their villages were destroyed and their loved ones had died.

The death toll in Nepal yesterday totalled more than 4000.

The number of New Zealanders unaccounted for in Nepal was down to single figures, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.

Meanwhile, Tauranga traveller Richard Curtis is preparing to hike out of Nepal's rural Annapurna circuit and back into the damaged villages this week.

He made the first contact with family members on Monday night after they had an anxious few days in New Zealand waiting to hear from him.

Mr Curtis said the earthquake had not damaged the area he was in.

"At the moment, we have a bit more walking to do to get off the Annapurna circuit ... still making a plan."