When a man in Bitonto, Italy, checked his lottery ticket at a shop it read ‘non‑payable’ – a warning that the prize was too large for the cashier to handle.
He thought he’d already received his €1m (£857,158) and tossed it into the bin, only to realize that his favourite numbers had just been drawn. A relative’s quick notice flipped the story.
Waste boss Roberto Nicola Toscano met the lottery player and organised a two‑day search in a pile of rubbish collected by a bin lorry. He called it “miraculous” as workers combed through heaps of waste finding the ticket hidden among damaged papers.
On Tuesday morning the ticket was discovered inside a hole‑ridden bag. Toscano noted the ticket was one of the rare intact ones. The search effort was credited to the winner, who had signed a declaration to cover the cost.
The dramatic recovery reminded waste workers of their own luck when a joke scratch card they bought won €50 (£43).
This story shows that sometimes the right fortune is buried right under your feet – or in the messy parts of town. Stay tuned for more surprising finds around the world!
