SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters)  Thirty-three miners trapped underground for 17 days in a gold and copper mine in northern Chile sent up a message tied to a drill on Sunday, telling rescuers they were all alive.

President Sebastián Piñera said the paper message was tied to a drill that rescuers used to bore through to the area near an underground shelter where the miners are located. But he said “it will take months” to get the trapped men out. “It will take time,” the beaming president said at the mine head. “but it doesn’t matter how long it takes to have a happy ending.”

The miners’ message, written with red paint, read “The 33 of us in the shelter are well.” Mr. Piñera held up the piece of paper on television, as drivers honked horns here in the capital and diners applauded in restaurants.