‘Christmas gift’: Belgian village’s 165 people win $151 million in mega lottery

A group of 165 people, belonging to a Belgian village, won a collective jackpot of $151.18 million in the EuroMillions lottery. Belgian National Lottery, each resident won around €868,000 ($9,17,967) in the lottery.

The residents from Antwerp province’s Olmen had made equal payments for purchasing the tickets at their local newsagent as Tuesday’s draw saw more than 27 million entries. The prize money of the final jackpot was €142,897,164 ($15,11,83,056), said EuroMillions.

Belgium has seen group successes, however, this was the biggest group win ever, National Lottery’s spokesperson Joke Vermoere said adding, “Their reactions ranged from stoicism to euphoria.”

The spokesperson also said that the lottery win is the “best Christmas present”.

“They all played together in the same newsagent in Olmen, where they each invested €15. It is not the first time that De Pershoek organises this kind of group pot, but it is the first time that they win so much,” Joke Vermoere stated.

However, this is not the biggest EuroMillions jackpot in history as in July a person who played had won £195 million ($239.26 million).

Earlier, a British couple won £184 million ($225.69 million) in Gloucester.

Nine European countries which include France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, Spain and Luxembourg, organise the EuroMillions jackpot.