13th proves lucky for $1.35 bil. lottery ticket holder in US
A digital screen advertisement for the "Mega Millions" lottery prize at over $1.35 billion ahead of the January 13th multi-state prize drawing is seen at a ticket sales shop in Great Neck, New York, U.S., Jan. 13. Reuters-Yonhap
Friday the 13th proved lucky for one lottery player in the U.S. state of Maine, whose winning ticket is worth an estimated $1.35 billion, Mega Millions officials announced Saturday.
The winner's identity has yet to be announced, but only one person matched all six numbers, thereby claiming the second-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history (someone in South Carolina won $1.53 billion in 2018).
"Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot," said Pat McDonald, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. "It's the fourth billion-dollar jackpot in Mega Millions history."
The big win was the lottery's seventh on a Friday the 13th ― a date normally considered unlucky ― since the game began in 2002.
In the latest drawing, Mega Millions said, 14 people in 10 states matched the five white-ball numbers (30, 43, 45, 46, 61) to win $1 million each, but only the single ticket-holder in the northeastern state of Maine also guessed the gold Mega Ball number: 14.
The jackpot had been growing since Oct. 14, when winning tickets in California and Florida shared a prize of $502 million.
The next drawing is Tuesday, with a jackpot set back to the starting value of $20 million. (AFP)