Kansas winner of 656m dollar jackpot claims share

London, Apr 8 (ANI): One of three winners of the record 656-million-dollar jackpot in the US has come forward to claim their share of the prize.

Lottery officials have said that the lucky ticketholder from Kansas, who has chosen to remain anonymous, made themselves known on Friday.

Opting for a lower cash prize rather than a higher pre-tax amount of 218.6 million dollars paid out over 26 years, the winner will pocket 110.5 million dollars after taxes and fees.

"They checked their ticket on Monday and realised that, 'holy cow, we think we have the winning ticket'," Sky News quoted Cara Sloan-Ramos, from the Kansas Lottery as saying.

"Then the winner checked it over and over and over, just to make sure, and then they contacted us," Sloan-Ramos said.

The only detail that has been released is that the ticket was purchased at a Casey's General Store on Main Street in Ottawa. The shop is to be awarded 10,000 dollars.

Lottery officials have said that three winning tickets were bought - one in Kansas, one in Illinois and one in Maryland - but neither of the other winners have been confirmed.

A row has broken out in Maryland after a member of staff at a McDonald's in Baltimore claimed to have bought a winning ticket outside of a syndicate with 14 colleagues.

Mirlande Wilson, a 37-year-old woman of Haitian descent, has said she has no plans to share the jackpot - and also claims to have hidden the winning ticket.

However, lottery officials in the state have said that so far no one has presented a valid winning ticket to their offices. (ANI)