US lottery winner scoops $365m
A lucky winner from Nebraska has netted $365m (€306m) in the biggest lottery jackpot in American history, but has yet to claim the prize, US lottery officials said today.
Only one winning ticket was sold for Saturday’s jackpot, the Powerball website said.
No one had come forward to claim the jackpot early today, Nebraska Lottery spokesman Brian Rockey said.
“We don’t know if the winner knows yet,” he said.
People with dreams of winning the record jackpot stood in long lines on Saturday to buy tickets that flew out of machines at dizzying speeds.
West Virginia retailers cranked out tickets at a rate of 29 per second on Friday, said Libby White, the lottery’s marketing director. North Carolina and Virginia residents called the West Virginia lottery asking for directions to the closest retailer, she said.
Sales in South Carolina reached $11,000 (€9,200) a minute on Friday. “Pretty staggering,” said John C.B. Smith, chairman of the state’s lottery commission.
The winning ticket was sold in Lincoln, Nebraska and lottery officials will go to the site of the sale today to verify it, he said.
The Powerball jackpot topped the previous lottery record, which was $363m (€305m). That was won by two ticket holders in Illinois and Michigan in 2000.
Powerball is played in 28 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands.
