Overview
- A Bitonto player checked a MillionDay ticket at a shop, saw a 'non-payable' message and threw the slip away after believing it was worthless.
- The player's relatives later realised the usual numbers had won and the family returned to the shop only to learn the ticket had been collected with the trash.
- SANB reconstructed the ticket’s collection route, stopped the identified truck and used a specialist sorting facility to search the load safely.
- After about two days of sifting through contaminated waste, workers found the intact ticket inside a torn plastic bag and notified the tearful winner.
- Because the search used specialist public resources, the winner signed an agreement to cover the extraordinary recovery costs before reclaiming the €1 million prize.