Life and Thoughts of The One Ocean

Winning syndicate's numbers not entered

10:53 Monday 11th December 2006

A Belgian lottery syndicate who thought they had won 27 million euros were devastated when they found the wrong numbers had been entered.

The group of 30 from Mouscron, south-west of Brussels, had been using the same numbers to enter the EuroMillions jackpot for weeks.

Members of the syndicate started to celebrate when their numbers came up in Friday's draw, reports the BBC.

However, the person in charge of buying the ticket had allowed the machine to choose random numbers instead.

Local cafe owner Christiane Farvacque said: "One of us came into the cafe after the draw on Friday and said we had won 27m euros. We were all celebrating. Everyone was calling family and friends."

When she phoned lottery organisers, she was told there had been no winning entry.

She added: "We knew something was wrong. We spent all night trying to find out what had happened."

After tracking down the person who bought the ticket - the local bookshop owner, they realised their normal numbers had not been entered.

She said: "We were all bitterly disappointed. You think you are the only winners in Europe, but you end up with nothing."

Mrs Farvacque said she cannot forgive her friend for the mistake: "Even in 20 years' time, my hair will stand up on end whenever I see her."

posted by The One Ocean @ 12/12/2006 04:02:00 AM