Powerball Jackpot Of $564m Will Be Shared

Three lucky ticket holders in North Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico have matched all six numbers to split a $564.1m (£370m) Powerball jackpot.

The winners can select a lump-sum cash pay-out or opt to take annuity payments over 29 years, before taxes.

The jackpot, which reached the half-billion dollar mark after rolling over for nearly three months, was the third-largest in the game's history and one of the largest lottery jackpots ever in the US.

The winning numbers from the draw were 11, 13, 25, 39 and 54, lottery officials said, and the Powerball number was 19.

One of the winning tickets was sold at Appletree Food Mart in Princeton, Texas. There was no immediate information on the cities or stores that produced the winners in North Carolina or Puerto Rico.

Sue Dooley, senior drawing manager and production co-ordinator for the Multi-State Lottery Association, said the Puerto Rico ticket was the first Powerball jackpot winner ever sold outside the continental United States.

Puerto Rico joined Powerball less than a year ago. Besides 44 states and Washington, DC, the game is also played in the Virgin Islands, but there has never been a jackpot winner there, Ms Dooley said.

The largest pay-out in US history was to three ticketholders in the Mega Millions game, the other national lottery draw. That was a $656m (£430m) prize won in March 2012 by players in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland.