Italian garbage workers find €1m lottery ticket in trash
Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
News
Named sources
Outcome reported
- Garbage workers in southern Italy recovered a €1 million winning lottery ticket from a trash bin after the owner mistakenly discarded it.
- The woman misinterpreted a "non-payable" notification, thinking she hadn't won, and threw the ticket away.
- After realizing her error, she contacted the waste management company, which organized a day-long search through a truckload of refuse to find the intact ticket.
A remarkable stroke of luck, combined with the diligent efforts of waste management workers, led to the recovery of a €1 million winning lottery ticket that had been mistakenly thrown away in southern Italy. The fortunate owner, an unnamed woman from Bitonto, had played her usual numbers for the Saturday lottery.
The winner always played the same numbers, as they were associated with a loved one.
Upon visiting a local shop on Sunday to check the results, the lottery terminal displayed a message indicating "non-payable." Misunderstanding this standard notification, which signifies a prize too large for the retailer to cash, as a sign of not winning, she discarded the ticket into a nearby rubbish bin. The ticket contained the winning combination of 2, 4, 8, 10, and 51, numbers reportedly associated with a loved one.
The winner always played the same numbers, as they were associated with a loved one.
Later, after a family member recognized the winning numbers and alerted her to her mistake, the woman contacted the waste management company, SANB. By this time, the garbage truck had already collected the contents of the bin, including the valuable ticket. SANB's administrator, Roberto Nicola Toscano, described the call as "panicked."
Workers then spent an entire day sorting through the rubbish.
SANB swiftly traced the garbage truck's route and managed to intercept it before the refuse was processed. The truck was diverted to a specialized facility due to the potential safety hazards of searching through household waste. Workers then spent an entire day meticulously sorting through the trash. Miraculously, the ticket was found intact. Toscano commended the sanitation workers' efforts, noting the unpleasant conditions they worked under, and stated that professionalism, organization, and luck were key to the successful recovery. The woman, overcome with emotion, reportedly burst into tears upon being informed of the ticket's recovery and has pledged to cover the additional costs incurred by the operation.
miraculously still in one piece
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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