GAUHATI: India's prime minister has promised help for hundreds of thousands of survivors of brutal ethnic rioting in the country's remote northeast that left at least 53 people dead.  

Manmohan Singh flew Saturday to one of the districts worst affected by the clashes between ethnic Bodos and Muslim settlers in Assam state. Singh called the fighting ''a blot'' on the country.

The killing of four Bodo men last week sparked the violence.

While the rioting is now mostly under control, thousands of troops continue to patrol the districts of Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh and Chirang.

Night curfews are also in place in several areas.

The fighting forced about 400,000 people to flee their homes and crowd into poorly equipped relief camps.