Numbers drawn for record $640m Mega Millions prize
Baku, March 31 (AZERTAC). Lottery fever has gripped the US as a draw took place for a $640m (£400m) Mega Millions prize, the biggest jackpot in world history.
The numbers drawn on Friday night were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46, Mega Ball 23.
Forty-two states took part in the draw. US officials said one of the winning tickets was bought in Maryland, and that there could be other winners.
Earlier, queues snaked out of shops from coast to coast with some punters snapping up tickets by the bushel.
The prize money has been swelling since 24 January, with no winner matching all five numbers in the last 18 draws.
The prize had stood at $540m before Friday`s announcement. Lottery officials earlier estimated that customers would have spent some $1.5bn on tickets by the time of the draw.
A jackpot winner could choose between receiving the full amount of $640m in 26 annual payments (more than $24m a year) or an instant cash option of more than $460m.
The largest jackpot to be paid out until now was a $390m Mega Millions prize that was split between two winners in 2007.
One hopeful ticket-buyer, Allsaints Macauley, a 64-year-old taxi driver in Washington DC, told the BBC that if he won he would drive his vehicle to one of the capital`s busiest intersections and leave it behind to be towed away.
In California, some shops have been experiencing a ticket-buying frenzy, after lottery officials in the Golden State revealed which outlets have previously sold the most winning tickets.
NBA basketball player Chris Singleton, who earns a reported $1.5m playing for the Washington Wizards, said on Twitter that he planned to splurge $10,000 on tickets.
The Kansas City Star that the winnings could buy a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a private island near Phuket, Thailand, or a fleet of 200 Bugatti sports cars.
But the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against any one person matching the six-ball jackpot.
Lottery officials say the chance of winning is just one-in-176 million. Tickets cost $1.
The states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada are not participating in the draw.
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