In brief
An unnamed Italian lottery player mistakenly tossed a winning €1 million ticket into a shop bin, only to realize the error when his family noticed his favourite numbers had been drawn. Waste collectors in Bitonto spent two days searching through a lorry’s packed rubbish to retrieve the intact ticket, which was ultimately found among damaged copies. The recovery effort will be charged to the winner, who had signed a declaration covering the cost. The incident underlines the unexpected intersections between municipal services and large financial rewards, and ended on a lighter note when the workers’ own scratch‑card luck paid out €50.
Lottery winner recovers €1 million ticket from landfill
In a story that started as a misidentified prize, a man in Bitonto set out to spend a €1 million (£857,158) winning‑ticket, only to find it labelled “non‑payable” at a local shop. After realizing his mistake, his family alerted him to his favourite numbers that had been drawn, leading the group to return to the outlet where the ticket had been discarded along with other waste.
Local waste manager Roberto Nicola Toscano of SANB oversaw a two‑day search through a truck of collected rubbish. The team sifted through packed bags of garbage, ultimately locating the intact slip – a small bronze‑paper ticket flanked by damaged copies – inside a hole‑ridden bag.
The recovery effort was billed to the winner, who had signed a declaration covering the cost. Toscano accompanied the find with a tongue‑in‑cheek gesture, joking that “luck” resonated within his crew when they later pulled a scratch‑card and won €50 (£43).
Published 10 minutes ago
