The students said they had asked the driver not to go on the submerged road

A driver was arrested after a school van in which he was carrying eight children got stuck in water under a bridge in Uttar Pradesh's Ramkola on Monday. The children were rescued by passers-by.

The rescuers said the driver was speeding and he appeared to be in a hurry to take the children to their school at 7 am.

"We warned him that the water is too deep. We asked him to take some other route to the school. Children were afraid that they will drown. Some of them climbed on the roof of the van while others were rescued by the villagers," a man who participated in the rescue operation said.

One of the students said they had asked the driver to take another route and not attempt to drive on the submerged underpass road.

"I told the driver that the water was too deep but he didn't listen to me. We were very afraid. There were kids younger to me in the van," said the student who asked not to be named.

The driver denied the allegations. "Water wasn't that deep. It would have led to nothing," he said.

The school administration said they will take action against the driver. "We will ensure that students do not face any such experience in future," a senior officer of the school said.