Lost US$1.15 million lottery ticket dug out of trash by Italian garbagemen

A €1 million (US$1.15 million) lottery ticket was recovered from the trash in Italy after the frantic winner called on garbagemen to help her retrieve it, the waste management company said.

The instant win ticket was “miraculously still in one piece” after garbage workers combed through mounds of trash on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy’s southern Puglia region.

Toscano explained how when the winner went on Sunday to check her ticket at her local shop after the drawing, the machine indicated it was “non-payable”. That was because smaller retailers can only redeem small wins.

But the woman – who remains anonymous – did not realise she had won the big jackpot.

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

When she returned home from the store, a family member told her that her regular numbers had won. They immediately ran back to the shop, only to discover that the ticket had already been thrown away and the trash collected.