"Hatta kept vigil with family members of the deceased, and didn't sleep for three or four days," wrote Tokomitsu Shinsei in his biography of Hatta. Hatta thought long and hard about suspending operations but finally decided to press on. At several points major changes were instituted to overcome various obstacles to building the tunnel.
這對向來關愛屬下的八田不啻是晴天霹靂，「八田先生陪著罹難工人的家屬守靈，3、4 天無法闔眼，」德光信誠表示，那幾天八田一直在思考是否要停工，最後決定堅持下去，並將隧道工程做多次變更，以克服種種困難。