Ten people from tiny rural town become instant multi-millionaires overnight

01 September 2023 , 02:27

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Wentworth is only home to around 1,500 residents, according to the 2021 census (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A group of 10 people from a small country town have celebrated after scooping $40million in a lottery syndicate.

The syndicate from Wentworth in New South Wales, Australia, was the only jackpot winning ticket - meaning the group of 10 shared a total of $40,517,739.00 (£20.7million) - meaning each individual winner will take home an incredible $4,051,773.90 (£2.7million).

One excited winner told a Lottery official: "I just had a look! I can't believe it! That's really good! We're only a small town and it's crazy to think there's now 10 multi-millionaires here." Wentworth is only home to around 1,500 residents, according to the 2021 census. Officials have now urged Wentworth residents to check their tickets as some members of the syndicate have remain unaccounted for.

Spokesperson Matt Hart said: "While we'll be reaching out to those syndicate members who registered their entries, there are a handful of people with unregistered entries who may not yet know they're part of this winning group. These players don't know each other as they simply purchased a syndicate share from their local outlet, but now they have one thing in common – they're now all multi-millionaires."

The jackpot-winning PowerHit entry was purchased at rural Wentworth Lotto and News - using lucky numbers 10, 35, 27, 32, 6, 14 and 31 (Getty Images)

The jackpot-winning PowerHit entry was purchased at rural Wentworth Lotto and News - using lucky numbers 10, 35, 27, 32, 6, 14 and 31. The Powerball number was 6. On hearing the happy news, owner Rowan Congress said: "Oh, that's beautiful! That's great news for Wentworth. We're in the middle of nowhere. We've only been here for two years and this is the first division one win we've sold. How great that it's a syndicate and lots of people get to share the prize."

Woman was 'adamant' she would win top lottery prize - then pockets $200,000

In other surprise jackpot winning news from a small town, a woman from Somerville, Alabama, found the winning Mississippi Lottery Powerball ticket stashed in her glove box after buying it from a Sprint Mart in Corinth, Mississippi. Thankfully, the woman went from rummaging through her glove box and came across the unclaimed million-dollar lottery ticket. It had been months since the winning numbers had been drawn.

The unidentified woman cashed in the big win on July 19, three-and-a-half months after the numbers had been drawn. The Mississippi Lottery Corporation had warned the ticket expired on September 30, meaning the lucky woman found it in the nick of time. The April 3 Powerball drawing produced winning numbers of 16, 30, 31, 54 and 68 with a Powerball of 1 and a Power Play of 2. The jackpot was listed as $159.6 million (£126.9 million).

Abigail O'Leary