US jackpot hit $656m
2012-04-02 19:37
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New York - The record US Mega Millions lottery jackpot shared among three big winners last week, soared to $656m - higher than the $640m earlier estimated, officials said on Monday.
"With sales from all 44 Mega Millions lotteries calculated and totalled, the final jackpot amount for the Friday March 30 drawing came to $656m. That record-shattering amount was the result of unprecedented sales in all jurisdictions where Mega Millions is played," the lottery agency said in a statement.
Millions of Americans lined up hoping to suddenly become very, very rich despite having only a one-in-176-million chance of winning.
Winning tickets were purchased in the states of Illinois, Kansas and Maryland - among the 42 US states plus the federal capital Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands, taking part.
The winning numbers - 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 with Mega Ball 23 - were announced at 23:00 on Friday (03:00 GMT Saturday) but it took another 12 hours for the company to announce that there were three winners.
