Christie orders flags lowered for Mali terror victims

TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie called a former New Jersey resident killed last week in a terrorist attack in Mali “a true hero and role model of the highest order” in ordering flags in the state to be flown at half-staff Tuesday.

Anita Ashok Datar, a Rutgers University graduate who grew up in Mount Olive in Morris County, was among those killed when two gunmen attacked a Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, the capital of the country in West Africa. At least 19 people were killed, in addition to the two gunmen.

Datar, 41, a public health worker, was a senior manager at Palladium Group, an international development nonprofit organization with offices in Washington, D.C.. She lived in Takoma Park, Maryland. Datar’s work focused on family planning and HIV issues and involved extensive travel to Africa, Asia and South America.

“Anita Datar is a true hero and role model of the highest order, who bravely immersed herself in dangerous environments, and whose life’s work is a testament to her tremendous courage, remarkable compassion and unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those most in need,” Christie said in issuing an executive order that flags be lowered at state buildings Tuesday.

Datar was born in Massachusetts but grew up in Morris County. She graduated from Mount Olive High School in Flanders in 1991 and Rutgers University in New Brunswick in 1995.

Michael Symons: (609) 984-4336; msymons@gannettnj.com