Worried about their students, three Shanhsing Elementary School teachers-Chang Chien, Teng Yu-ying, and Lin Pao-hsuen-and Chen Kuo-yi, then the school's director of academic affairs, joined hands and tried to ford the river to get to the school.
當時擔任山興國小教導主任的陳國義和教師張箭、鄧玉瑛、林寶炫等人，因心繫學童課程進度，竟不顧安危手牽著手強行過河。