In Bitonto, southern Italy, garbage workers successfully recovered a €1 million lottery ticket that a woman had accidentally thrown away. The woman had entered the Saturday lottery and checked her ticket the following day at a local shop. However, the machine displayed a "non-payable" message, which commonly indicates the prize is too large for the retailer to redeem. Mistaking this for a loss, she discarded the ticket in the trash.
Roberto Nicola Toscano, administrator of the local waste management company SANB, told AFP that after receiving a panicked call from the woman, the company quickly traced the ticket's path. The search involved combing through an entire truckload of trash at a special site equipped for such operations, due to the potential presence of hazardous materials. Toscano described the ticket as being found "miraculously still in one piece."
According to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, the winning numbers were 2, 4, 8, 10, and 51. Toscano noted that the woman always played the same numbers, which were associated with a loved one. Upon learning over the phone that the ticket was recovered, the woman reportedly cried.
This incident highlights the dedication of sanitation workers who, despite working in challenging conditions, helped secure a life-changing prize for a local resident.
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