Italian Trash Searched for Over a Day to Find €1 Million Lottery Ticket

^{SANB waste management company head with the recovered lottery ticket}

Waste workers in the Italian city of Bitonto spent more than a day searching through rubbish for a lottery ticket worth €1 million that had been accidentally thrown away by its owner. ANSA reported.

The winning ticket belonged to the MillionDay lottery, with the draw held on July 31. Its owner matched all five winning numbers — 2, 4, 8, 10 and 51. The player had used the same combination for years because the numbers were connected to a close person.

After the draw, the owner took the ticket to a shop to check it.

The terminal showed that the prize could not be paid out there, as retail outlets can only issue smaller winnings. The player assumed there was no prize, left the ticket at the shop and went away.

The ticket was later thrown away together with other rubbish.

After returning home, a relative told the owner that his regular combination had actually won and brought him €1 million. They returned to the shop, but the waste had already been collected.

Employees of the SANB waste management company traced the route of the rubbish, identified the truck that had collected it and managed to stop it before unloading.

Because the waste could have contained hazardous materials, the truck was sent to a specialised facility, where workers spent more than a day sorting through its contents.

They eventually found the missing ticket among the rubbish. According to SANB director Roberto Nicola Toscano, it remained intact. The owner agreed to reimburse the costs of the search.