A number of people are also reported to have been severely injured in this collision.
According to Kurdistan Highway Police, the tragic incident took place in the early hours before dawn on Wednesday in an inter-city highway.
One of the two bus drivers who survived the incident said that the bus had stopped to pick up passengers behind a pickup truck, where suddenly an oil tanker rammed into the bus and both burst into flames.
Kurdistan province has declared three days of public mourning over the crash.
