[Sportschosun, Jang Jong-ho] A shocking incident took place in the United Kingdom, where a lottery ticket that could have won 24 billion won was discarded.
Because the lottery terminal did not beep to signal a win, a store employee threw the ticket away. The operator later launched an investigation after it was discovered that the ticket matched the winning numbers.
According to The Sun, Cath Main, 46, who lives in Pontypridd, South Wales, saw news that no one had come forward to claim the £12 million prize, worth about 24 billion won, from the lottery drawing held on June 6 local time.
She realized that the winning numbers were the same as the numbers she had consistently used for the past 20 years, and asked her mother, who buys the ticket for her every week, to check the numbers again.
However, her mother had already taken the ticket to a store to check whether it had won. She said she assumed it was not a winner because the terminal did not display a winning signal.
The store employee then asked, "Can I throw away the ticket?" after the terminal showed no winning result, and her mother replied, "Go ahead."
Just a few hours later, all of the store's trash was collected.
There was another unfortunate detail. The store was under renovation at the time, so no internal CCTV had been installed, making it impossible to confirm how the ticket was discarded.
Lottery operator Allwyn is now investigating whether the terminal malfunctioned or whether an employee made a mistake. Cath has been told that it could take up to 30 days before a final conclusion is reached.
She submitted the purchase receipt along with CCTV footage from a nearby hair salon showing her mother buying the ticket.
A lottery operator official said, "We are currently investigating the facts," and added, "Even if a winning ticket is lost, stolen, or damaged, the prize can still be claimed through a set procedure."
Jang Jong-ho, bellho@sportschosun.com
