Boat migrant who nearly died twice crossing into Europe wins £110k lottery
A boat migrant who nearly died twice crossing the sea into Europe has scooped a £110k lottery win with his first-ever ticket.
Ibrahim Kante, from The Gambia, says he was one of only six survivors out of 120 migrants packed onto a frail vessel, which made the perilous journey from Libya to Italy in 2017.
Even though he managed to reach his destination and spend six months in the country, the authorities caught up with him and deported him back to Africa.
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Undeterred, he once again risked his life again to cross the Mediterranean Sea and boarded another rickety boat "in which 120 people were also travelling and all but 16 ended up dying", he told local media.
This time he managed to stay in Italy for six months before leaving for France, before authorities caught up with him and sent him back to Italy.
However, he re-entered France and, from there, made his way to Olot, Spain, where he lives today.
He has spent most of his time in Olot working illegally as an undocumented migrant.
However, he recently got his papers and now works legally as a forklift truck driver at a cooked pork products company.
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Ibrahim decided to play the Christmas lottery for the first time after seeing a queue to buy tickets on December 20.
He did not really know what it was or how it worked, but he decided to take a punt on a ticket ending in his wife's lucky number – four – for €20 (£18).
He was astonished when he scooped the second prize – worth €125,000 (£110,000) – in the draw two days later.
He told local media he will now go back to The Gambia to use some of his winnings to help his family.
With the remainder, he said, "I am a musician, so I am going to buy instruments and machines to make myself a studio".
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