Russian surgeons did a feat on Friday by conducting open heart surgery in a burning hospital in Blagoveshchensk, a city in Russia’s far east.

“We could not interrupt the operation, that person had to be saved and we did everything at the highest level. The operation was completed completely and without difficulties,” surgeon Valentin Filatov told Globe Live Media.

This morning a fire broke out in the Blagoveshchensk heart clinic, forcing 128 people to evacuate. But the surgeons at work decided to stay until the operation was finished.

“There was no moment of panic,” said Nurse Antonina Smolina of the surgical team.

In order to continue operating, surgeons installed an electrical cable from the outside and fans to evacuate the smoke, rescuers said.

“The control of the fire was complicated by the fact that … the fire was active over the entire surface, that is 1,600 square meters,” explained Konstantin Rybalko, deputy director of the Emergency Situations Service in the region.

After the operation, the medical team evacuated the burning premises and the patient was transferred to another hospital in the city.

The fire was finally controlled without any casualties.

The municipal authorities announced that they are going to honor the medical team and the firefighters.

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