Amazon worker from Maryland wins lottery twice in a row

An Amazon employee from Baltimore, Maryland, has won a $50,000 (£41,500) lottery prize from a $5 scratch card - his second big win in as many months.

The 56-year-old man had already scooped $30,000 from a similar card in January, Maryland Lottery said in a statement.

He won this month's prize after buying a scratch card at a liquor store, the organisation said.

The man, who was not named, said: "I'm looking at the ticket, like, 'This can't be right.'

"I called my girlfriend in to take a look. I said to her, 'Tell me I'm not crazy.' She just looked at me and said, 'Unbelievable!'"

The man told lottery officials he had not decided how he would spend the money, but that he might go on holiday with his girlfriend for her 60th birthday.

He was also considering buying a new car, officials added.

The $50,000 prize was the top possible win for the $5 scratch card he bought.

The game - Crazy 8s - awards hundreds of thousands of prizes, but most range between $5 and $1,000.

The man also won on two other scratch cards he bought at the same time, pocketing $20 on a $1 card, and recouping the cost of a separate $5 card.

The liquor store where he bought the cards, Mitt's Rosedale Liquors in Rosewood, east of Baltimore, will receive a $500 bonus from Maryland Lottery.

Multiple lottery wins in a row are rare, but not unheard of: in December, a man from Massachusetts won the lottery six times using his "intuition".