Surgeons in Russia’s Far East successfully performed an open-heart surgery despite the outbreak of a major fire in their hospital Friday.
A wiring malfunction is believed to have caused the fire at the cardiac surgery center in the city of Blagoveschensk, regional prosecutors told state media. Around 120 personnel and patients were evacuated as the blaze spread across 1,600 square meters of the building’s roof.
The team of eight surgeons, who had already started operating on their patient, remained in the first-floor operating room to complete the procedure as it couldn’t be halted early, the city’s mayor said on Telegram.
The operation was completed successfully and the surgeons and their patient were evacuated from the building, Interfax cited a source as saying. The patient was transferred to a regional hospital for postoperative care in stable condition, the source added.
The operating room received electricity via a separate cable during the blaze and firefighters stood by to ensure smoke didn’t spread to the room, authorities said.
The fire was contained with the help of 59 firefighters and 28 pieces of equipment, the regional Emergency Situations Ministry told the state-run TASS news agency.
Amur region Governor Vasily Orlov is now preparing awards for the doctors, he wrote on his Telegram channel.