$1.35bn lottery jackpot won by single ticketholder in US

A single ticketholder has won an estimated $1.35bn dollars (£1.1bn) in the US Mega Millions lottery.

After three months of draws which failed to produce a winner, the winning numbers were finally announced on Friday.

They were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14.

The jackpot was won in the state of Maine and is the fourth largest in US history, lottery organisers said.

The $1.35bn grand prize is for a winner who takes an annuity with annual payments over 29 years.

Winners almost always choose the cash option – which for Friday night’s drawing was an estimated $724.6m (£593.4 m).

The next grand prize will be for $20m (£16.3m) and the cash option will be $10.7m (£8.7m), indicating there was a winner of the estimated $1.35bn prize.

There had been 25 draws in a row without a jackpot winner, but that streak ended with someone beating the odds of one in 302.6 million to take the top prize.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands and first began in 1996 as the Big Game.

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