Garbage Workers Find Lost €1 Million Lottery Ticket in Italy

In a remarkable turn of events, garbage workers in the Italian city of Bitonto have successfully recovered a €1 million (approximately $1.15 million USD) winning lottery ticket from a truckload of refuse.

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miraculously still in one piece.

The astonishing find occurred after an unnamed woman, who had won the jackpot, mistakenly believed she had lost her winnings. She had purchased a ticket for the Saturday lottery and visited her local shop on Sunday to check the results. The machine displayed a "non-payable" message, a common indication that the prize was too large for the retailer to redeem. Misinterpreting this, the woman concluded she had not won and discarded the ticket.

Tragically, by the time she realized her error and returned to the shop, a garbage truck had already collected the bin containing her discarded ticket. The winning numbers, reportedly associated with a loved one, were 2, 4, 8, 10, and 51, as reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

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non-payable

Upon receiving a panicked call from the distraught winner, the waste management company SANB sprang into action. Administrator Roberto Nicola Toscano told AFP that the company quickly worked to retrace the ticket's journey. They identified the specific truck that had collected the trash and halted its route. Recognizing the potential hazards of sifting through waste, the vehicle was transported to a specialized site equipped for such a search.

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The winner always played the same numbers, as they were associated with a loved one.

It took the workers a full day of "working in conditions that were anything but pleasant" to locate the ticket, which was found "miraculously still in one piece." Toscano shared with Corriere Della Sera that the woman was overcome with emotion, crying when she learned the ticket had been found. He attributed the "impossible result" to the professionalism and organization of his team, combined with a significant amount of luck. Although the search costs will be covered by taxpayers as SANB is a public entity, the woman has reportedly promised to reimburse all additional expenses.

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working in conditions that were anything but pleasant