A Swiss man endured the cruellest torture on Saturday, winning and then losing a one million lottery fortune after a technical glitch sent players and viewers into total confusion after the televised draw.
It should have been a joyous New Year for Andreas Bürkli after his name was pulled out of a drum and announced as the winner by German singer Herbert Grönemeyer but in a cruel twist of fate officials realised that too many names had been put into the drum.
All potential winners are required to answer the phone in the event of their name being drawn as the winner and as Mr Bürkli was not available to answer the phone the draw was deemed to be null and void.
Lottery officials have apologized and said "In the hectic rush, 11 names were loaded into the drum rather than 10, and the extra one had been drawn". A new draw will be made sometime after the festive season.
Asked how Mr Bürkli had accepted the news of losing the CHF1m jackpot the Swisslos official said he had taken it very well: "You could even say he was a good sport."
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