2 mn lottery goes unclaimed in China; to be used for welfare

A whopping two million yuan (USD 3,15,126) lottery prize in China, which has gone unclaimed, will be utilised for social welfare services, a media report said today.
Someone bought the winning ticket from sports lottery management centre on Hainan Island worth more than two million yuan but never stepped forward to claim the money and let it go to the lottery fund.
The fund will be utilised for social welfare services including education, health care as well as subsidies for the disabled, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Employees at the sports lottery management centre at Hainan Island said it was the largest unclaimed prize in the province's history, according to the report.

The winning ticket was bought for 10 yuan (USD 1.58) from an outlet in Haikou city, the Hinews.Cn website reported.
The draw for the prize of 2.07 million yuan (USD 326,156) was done on August 11, and under mainland lottery rules, prize-winners have 60 days to collect the money.

Lottery officials began posting notices and banners at outlets, in an attempt to alert the punter as no one came to claim the money in the succeeding weeks. Staff reminded people to check their tickets through newspapers, TVs or websites.
The deadline passed yesterday and the unclaimed prize has gone into the lottery fund.

The tickets are printed on special paper so that the writing won't fade in the humid climate of the southern province.
Last year, unclaimed lottery prizes nationwide hit 1.68 billion yuan.