A lucky nine-year-old has won $1 million in Dubai Duty Free’s Millennium Millionaire – six years after winning a McLaren car in the same raffle.
The draw for Dubai Duty Free’s Millennium Millionaire took place today on Tuesday at Concourse B Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, where the promotion’s 298th $1 million winner Eliza M., a nine-year old grade school student won with ticket No.0333.
Reacting to the win, the father, M., from Mumbai and a resident of Dubai for 19 years said that he was a regular participant in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire promotion since 2004.
With nine (9) as his lucky number, he decided to buy ticket No. 0333 online under his daughter’s name, Eliza. The youngster is no newcomer to winning Dubai Duty Free promotions as she also previously won a McLaren Coupe in Series 1513 with ticket number 1867 in January 2013.
The grade school student is the 140th Indian national to win a million dollars in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire promotion since its inception in 1999.
M. said: “I have been buying tickets for the $1 million promotion since Series 43, and in fact, I have kept that ticket all this time. I never missed buying a ticket for every series including the Double and Multi-Millionaire Promotions.”
When asked about his initial plans on what to do with the money, he commented, “I have been making plans since Series 43 but since luck had yet to come I said to myself to continue my life as it is, and then this thing happened today. Thank you so much Dubai Duty Free, finally, my perseverance has paid off.
Following the Millennium Millionaire, two more winners were announced in Dubai Duty Free’s Finest Surprise Promotion, each winning a luxury motorbike.
Mohammad Haneef Adam, a 23-year-old Dubai-based Indian national won an Indian Scout Bobber in Series 362 with ticket No. 0671.
A resident of Dubai for 20 years, Adam currently works in Sharjah.
“I am very grateful to Dubai Duty Free for coming up with this promotion. I am thrilled to have won such a beautiful motorbike and I can’t wait to get my hands on this.”
Lady Luck also shone on a Pakistani national based in Dubai, Muhammad Safdar, who won the latest model of a BMW S 1000 R in Series 363 with ticket no. 0941.
Safdar was unreachable at the time of filing of this report.