/ 27 August 2007

No takers yet for R2,2bn Indiana lottery prize

No one had come forward by Monday morning to claim the only winning ticket for a $314,3-million (R2,25-billion) lottery jackpot sold near the Indiana-Ohio state line, lottery officials said.

”We don’t how many people — if it’s one person, or a hundred people — is the winner. We have no idea. Whoever it is, they’re wealthy,” said Mark Sirkin, a spokesperson for the Hoosier Lottery.

The winning numbers — 2, 8, 23, 29, 35 and Powerball 19 — were drawn on Saturday night. The ticket was sold at a convenience store about 112km east of Indianapolis, lottery officials said.

Powerball tickets are sold in 29 states, Washington, DC, and the United States Virgin Islands. The record jackpot was $365-million, won by eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant in 2006. — Sapa-AP