A photo of a Hong Kong man who injured himself after falling into a drain whilst chasing a lottery ticket has gone viral on social media.
As reported by Oriental Daily, the man – who is aged about 50 – bought a Mark Six lottery ticket at around noon from the Sing Path branch of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, in the Yuen Long area of Hong Kong’s New Territories.
As he left the betting shop, a gust of wind carried off the ticket in his hand and settled at the bottom of a dried-up water-channel, according to a witness.
With a jackpot of HK$110 million (US$14 million) awaiting whoever wins this week’s Mark Six (which was due to be drawn on Thursday night), the man – without a moment’s hesitation – climbed over a one-meter-high fence and leapt three meters down the other side into the drain.
In doing so, he sustained injury to his left thigh and was unable to move, but managed to call emergency services on his phone from where he fell.
A crowd of over 100 people are said to have witnessed the man’s action and some posted photographs of him in his distress on social media, Wen Wei Pao reports.
Three paramedics arrived and took the man to Pok Oi Hospital for treatment.
This week is the ninth time the Jockey Club’s jackpot has been over HK$100 million since the current format was established in 2002. No single winner claimed the top prize on any of the previous occasions.