A single winning ticket sold in a tiny South Carolina town has been identified in a US$1.5 billion Mega Millions US lottery jackpot, the second largest on record, organizers said on Wednesday.
The winning ticket was sold at a convenience store in Simpsonville, a rural town with a population of 22,000.
“Holy cow,” Simpsonville Mayor Janice Curtis told the Washington Post. “I think it’s wonderful news.”
Curtis described her rural town as a place where “there’s a church on every corner.”
However, the winner might never be known: Unlike most US states, lottery winners in South Carolina can legally choose to remain anonymous.
Mega Millions, which initially announced a global record US$1.6 billion jackpot, later revised the figure down to US$1.537 billion.
The new amount makes the prize the second largest, just shy of the US$1.586 billion jackpot for a rival Powerball lottery in January 2016, which was shared between three winning tickets.
The massive jackpot set off a lottery frenzy across the country, with people lining up at convenience stores, supermarkets and liquor stores to buy a US$2 ticket that gave them about a one-in-300 million chance of winning.
The winner can take US$878 million in a lump sum cash payment or be paid out in annuities over 30 years.
Unlike in many other countries, US lottery winnings are taxable at the federal level, while some states also impose local taxes.
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