Family, friends and numerous fans came to Holy Martyrs Church in Yerevan’s Davidashen district Thursday afternoon to bid farewell to Armenia’s two amateur actors who died in a car crash late on Monday.

Gegham Khandilyan, 35, and Aram Miskaryan, 36, known to wider audiences as “Gokor” and “Garik”, the characters they portrayed in the popular gangster series “Vorogayt” (Trap) on Shant TV, were buried in a nearby cemetery Thursday afternoon.

A third man, cameraman Edgar Ter-Adamyan, 26, remains in hospital suffering injuries from the same accident. Samvel Karapetyan, a doctor at St. Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center’s resuscitation department, told ArmeniaNow that Ter-Adamyan has head, spleen and liver injuries and is conscious, but in critical condition.

Meanwhile, colleagues and dedicated fans of the two deceased have expressed their condolences and remembered episodes from their lives both on screen and in real life.

Samvel Kiroyan, who acts as Police Lieutenant-Colonel Avagyan in the serial, says Gegham and Aram were as dear to their friends in real life as they were in the series.

“Both were people of integrity and were loved by the viewers. We were good friends on set during breaks in serial production. As non-professionals themselves, both loved actors,” he said.

Kiroyan said the film’s producers decided there will be no replacement for the characters.

“But ‘Vorogayt’ will continue, and as long as we live and create we will remember them. They will live as long as we remember them,” said Kiroyan.

Vorogayt lead Harutyun Movsisyan (“Hovo”) said: “I see my brothers who are departing from us, but they’re leaving with their spiritual grace. People can always identify good people and that’s why they are so much loved. They were patriotic, dedicated and good-hearted guys. God bless their souls, and they will always be next to us.”

TV viewer and fan Silva Abrahamyan, 72, says Gegham and Aram, despite being non-actors, acted better than professionals. “There is none like them among our professional actors,” said the grief-stricken fan.

And Vrezh Harutyunyan, 14, said: “They taught you what is right and what is wrong through their characters. I can’t imagine the serial without them now.”

Shant TV suspended the series during mourning, and will resume on Monday.