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Record $2.04bn Powerball jackpot won by someone in south California

Record $2.04bn Powerball jackpot won by someone in south California

Powerball lottery

An unknown person in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. No one had hit the top prize for over three months which kept increasing its value. After an overnight delay in the drawing, the winning numbers were finally selected Tuesday morning. Officials said that problems in processing sales data at one of the game’s member lotteries had led to the delay.

Later, the Minnesota Lottery acknowledged that an issue with their sales verification system caused the problem.

Lottery officials said that it was important to maintain security of such a high drawing, which is why they couldn't do anything about the delay.

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Also Read |Winning numbers for record-breaking $2.04 bn Powerball lottery drawn after delay

“Protecting the integrity of the draw is of utmost importance, and we were able to do that during this historic drawing with the cooperation of all participating lotteries,” said Drew Svitko, the chairman of the Powerball Product Group and executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery.

The winning numbers were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10.

The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena. Business owner Joe Chahayed, who sold the winning ticket, will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million.

“I’m very surprised. Very excited. Very happy,” said Chahayed, who hopes someone local has won the prize.

“I wish I knew the person but most people who buy tickets from me are from the neighborhood. I hope one of them will be the winner,” he said.

As per California rules, the name of the winner must be disclosed, although his other details need to be kept a secret.

Only four previous jackpots have topped $1 billion till now and this was the largest lottery prize ever won. The previous record $1.586 billion prize was won by three ticketholders in 2016. The Powerball started at $20 million on August 6 and keptincreasing. Th last time someone won the jackpot was August 3.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Anamica Singh

Anamica Singh is a Senior News Editor at WION, bringing over 17 years of deep media and journalism experience to the platform. Specialising in high-impact global journalism, she le...Read More