Nine-way split for winners of $25M lottery jackpot in this Canadian province

Nine Canadians are now multi-millionaires after winning the $25,000,000 Lotto Max jackpot.

The group of winners are all based in Quebec and won a prize of $2,500,000 following the July 10 draw, and one winner cashed in twice, Loto-Québec says.

The lottery group was created at Dépanneur Saint-Maxime, and Djelloul Saidi is one of the winners who bought a ticket after stopping due to mechanical issues with his car. The unscheduled pitstop was his first visit to the store, he said. He hadn’t told his spouse of the news, saying he wanted to surprise her at work with the cheque in hand.

Thierno M. Sadigou Diallo purchased two shares of the group lottery play, making him the twice-over winner with prizes of $5,000,000. The Quebec man in his forties says he plans to purchase a property for his family and make some investments.

Kamel Arezki says he found out he’d won when he validated his ticket at a pharmacy. He asked if there was a problem when he saw the astonished look on the attendant’s face before learning he’d won the jackpot. The family man’s plans for the winnings include a trip that could be a beach vacation.

The winning numbers for the July 10 draw were 15, 17, 18, 21, 28, 32 and 46. The bonus number was 38.

Thirty-six ticket holders across Canada also matched six of the seven winning numbers, earning $4,375.30 each. Two ticket holders — one in Ontario and one in Québec — matched six of the seven winning numbers plus the bonus, each winning $77,292.80.

Four MaxPlus prizes worth $100,000 were also won, with two winning tickets sold in British Columbia and two in Ontario.