Winner of Italian jackpot stays quiet

CATANIA, Italy, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Somebody has won the largest lottery jackpot ever in Italy, but the winner has yet to come forward and remains unknown.

The winning ticket for the 101 million euro ($128 million) jackpot was sold in a tobacconist's shop in Catania, a poor Sicilian port city, The Daily Telegraph reported. The newspaper suggested the winner might want to remain anonymous for fear of the Sicilian Mafia.

But the announcement Thursday night that the ticket had been purchased in Catania set off wild celebrations that continued Friday. The amount is only 40 million euros less than the aid the city has received recently from the national government.

Mayor Raffaele Stancanelli said he hopes the ticket was bought by a group of lottery players, not by one individual.

"I am delighted for Catania and I hope this is a good sign for the town," he said.

No one had won a jackpot in the Suprenalotto by picking all six numbers since April. As the jackpot grew, the lottery manager says, ticket sales swelled, with 20 million tickets sold for each drawing.