Summary The woman had her lottery ticket checked at a shop where she was told that it was not payable
(Web Desk) - An Italian woman who accidentally threw away a lottery ticket worth around €1 million was reunited with it after sanitation workers spent more than a day searching through rubbish.
The woman had her lottery ticket checked at a shop in Bitonto, where she was told that it was “not payable”. She mistakenly understood this to mean that she had not won anything.
In fact, the message appears when a prize is too large to be paid out at the shop.
After returning home, the woman told her family that her regularly chosen numbers — 2, 4, 8, 10 and 51 — had won a €1 million prize.
After learning how the lottery payout system worked, she immediately returned to the shop, only to discover that the ticket had already been thrown into the rubbish and taken away by a sanitation vehicle.
The woman sought help from the sanitation authorities, who traced the vehicle and stopped it before arranging a search of the waste at a designated facility.
She was reportedly required to sign a written agreement covering the additional costs of the search operation.
After more than a day of searching through the rubbish, workers finally found the lottery ticket intact.
The woman reportedly broke down in tears of joy after being informed that the ticket had been recovered, saving her €1 million prize.
