Workers at Edmonton financial company winners of $50M jackpot
Last Updated: Thursday, May 21, 2009 | 5:32 PM MT
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A group of 13 employees at ATB Financial in downtown Edmonton won almost $50 million in Wednesday night's Lotto 6/49 draw, reports say.
While neither the company nor the Western Canada Lottery Corporation has confirmed the information, there was an air of excitement around the bank's head office on Jasper Avenue on Thursday morning.
Champagne was ordered and there was a sign on the 13th floor of the office tower congratulating the employees.
ATB employee Penny Stone said she got the news from a colleague around 9 a.m. during a morning break.
"I went out for a smoke and one of the girls said, 'Did you hear? Did you hear about the 13 people on the 13th floor?'" she said.
The winning workers are clerks in the payroll department, Stone said.
"They're the best.… They're just really, really hard workers … everybody's thinking, thank God. If it couldn't be us, we're glad it's them."
Another ATB employee said he heard a commotion in the building.
"Earlier on, I heard a bunch of screaming on one of the floors. I'm assuming that was the winners. That was around nine o'clock, 10 o'clock," Grant Johnson said.
Despite all the signs the winners worked at ATB Financial, company spokesperson Shawn Ohler referred all inquires to the Western Canada Lottery Corporation.
"They answer all questions about the lottery until the time that winners are made public and until that happens, we can't say anything," he told a group of reporters outside the building.
The Western Canada Lottery Corporation has only confirmed that the winning ticket was sold in Edmonton. A spokesperson said they are trying to set up a news conference for Friday afternoon.
On Thursday afternoon, the workers were spotted at the Western Canada Lottery Corp.'s office in St. Albert, which is northwest of Edmonton.
The jackpot was worth $49,851,871. The winning numbers were: 4, 22, 26, 29, 39 and 48. The bonus number was 31.
ATB Financial is a Crown corporation owned by the government of Alberta. It runs 162 branches and 133 agencies in communities across the province.
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