Ticket sold in South Carolina hits the jackpot

A ticket with the winning numbers for the Mega Millions jackpot — a $1.6 billion prize that’s the biggest in history — was sold in South Carolina, lottery officials there said.

California officials, meanwhile, confirmed that no one in the Golden State had a ticket with all six winning numbers drawn Tuesday night.

However, once again — a San Francisco Safeway store sold a lottery ticket matching five out of six numbers in the latest Mega Millions drawing, state officials said.

The lucky ticket in San Francisco was sold at the Safeway at 730 Taraval Street in West Portal, according to Catherine Doyle-Johnston, a California Lottery spokeswoman.

Seven other stores in the state sold tickets with the five winning numbers, and officials said they do not know how much money those winners will take home.

The winning numbers Tuesday were 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega 5.

It was unclear if any tickets with all the winning numbers were sold in addition to the one in South Carolina.

Two Bay Area residents already became millionaires with this Mega Millions run, when a Marina District Safeway bakery employee last Tuesday and a Morgan Hill player on Friday each matched five out of the six numbers.

The numbers have been rolling since July, when the drawing reset after an 11-person office pool cashed in on a $543 million ticket in San Jose.

Mega Millions set a new world record over the weekend when the prize jumped up to $1.6 billion, the highest lottery jackpot ever.

Each ticket had a one in 303 million chance of winning, and state officials said that over 25 million tickets had been sold as of Monday morning.

Mini-mart Mega Millions signs around the nation posted paper signs advertising the $1.6 billion jackpot in their windows as the digital signs capped out at $999 million.

Lottery officials said Tuesday that the estimated cash option had gone up to $913 million.

When the jackpot gets this high, said California State Lottery spokesman Russ Lopez, retailers see an increase in what they call “casual players or non-players” as people eye the increasing jackpot.

The lottery craze doesn’t end with Tuesday night’s Mega Millions draw, either. The Powerball jackpot is at $620 million, and it could soar if no one wins Wednesday night’s drawing either.