Man gets the sack . . . containing $9 million

SYDNEY, Australia -- An Australian man retrenched on Friday morning became a multi-millionaire a few hours later when he discovered he had won a A$9 million (US$4.5 million) lottery.

"The retrenchment was an absolute surprise and I was really down in the dumps," the unidentified man said in a statement released by the Tattersall's lottery group, Reuters reported.

But his luck changed when he heard on his car radio that someone had won the "Powerball" jackpot lottery and he stopped at a shop to check his ticket.

"It is an unbelievable shock," he said, adding he wouldn't be looking for a new job.

"My wife knows I've been retrenched and she is pretty upset, so this will really cheer her up."

The man, who was among 100 workers retrenched earlier on Friday from a shipbuilding yard in Hobart on the island state of Tasmania, said he still planned to join his former workmates later in the day to drown their sorrows at a retrenchment wake.

"But I won't be saying anything about my win," he said. "I will leave the celebrating until later."

Reuters contributed to this report.