Uncle and niece share Lotto bounty thanks to numbers commemorating deceased relatives

An uncle and his niece have their deceased relatives to thank after they shared €250,000 in winnings on Boxing Day’s Lotto Quaterno Plus.

The two winning tickets were purchased in Rabat and San Ġwann and both knew they were writing the same numbers, which they have been playing for years.

The numbers commemorated their deceased mother, grandmother and her sisters, respectively. The winning numbers were 49, 53, 56, 61 and 62.

According to Lotto operator Maltco, one of the winners found out about winning the jackpot while watching the televised draw on TVM.

Family members tried to reach the other player via telephone, but he was not reachable and only found out about his luck when he returned home later in the evening.

“Our head is still spinning and we never imagined winning such a fantastic amount of money,” the players told Maltco’s marketing chief, Caroline Attard.

The players claimed their prize from Maltco offices on New Year’s Eve, taking home a cheque of €125,000 each. Both said that they will be sharing the winnings with their families.