Winning ticket for mega US lottery is sold

A winning ticket for last night's record US Mega Millions lottery ticket has been sold in Maryland - and there could be others nationwide, organisers said.

The $640m (€480m) Mega Millions numbers drawn in Atlanta were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46, with the Mega Ball 23.

Carole Everett, director of communications for the Maryland Lottery, said the winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at a retailer in Baltimore County.

She said it is too early to know any other information about the lucky ticket-holder or whether others were sold elsewhere in the nation.

Americans are estimated to have staked an estimated $1.5bn (€1.1bn) on last night's draw, the biggest ever lottery jackpot offered in the world.

The collective wager could fund a presidential campaign several times over, make a dent in struggling state budgets or take away the fuel worries and grocery bills for thousands of middle-class citizens.

And it’s a cheap investment for the chance of a big reward, no matter how long the odds – one in 176 million.