The Babil province police spokesman, Maj. Muthana Khalid, said the buses overturned in the southern city of Hillah, about 95 kilometers south of the capital.

Passers-by pulled people from the windows in a rush, fearing the buses would explode.

Two Iraqis were also killed, and more than 50 Iraqis and Iranians were injured. Dr. Saad Al-Nakaash of Hillah hospital confirmed the casualty toll.

“Our bus was hit by another bus and the passengers in my bus flew over the other,” said Jassim Swadi, 45, a Hillah resident who was on one of the buses. “The sky could be seen from the windows, and we realized that the bus must have turned over.”

Swadi, lying in a bed at Hillah hospital for injuries to his head and right hand, described other passengers climbing out of windows as he lay in shock.

Eyewitnesses said the two buses were going in opposite directions when one of them tried to pass another vehicle.

The buses collided head on and flipped over on the side of the road. One of the drivers was also killed.

The Iranians’ bus was headed to Samarra, about 95 kilometers north of Baghdad, after leaving the Shiite shrine in Najaf, said Iranian passenger Layla Ahmed Zada, 50.