Copiapo, Chile ? Chile’s president euphorically waved the note, written deep inside a collapsed mine, that his country waited 17 agonizing days to see: “All 33 of us are fine in the shelter,” one of the trapped miners wrote in red letters.

Authorities and relatives of the miners hugged, climbed a nearby hill, planted 33 flags and sang the national anthem after a probe sent some 2,257 feet deep into the mine came back with the note. “Today all of Chile is crying with excitement and joy,” President Sebastian Pinera said.

Where many were beginning to give up hope, the scene above ground became a celebration Sunday night, with a barbecue for the miners’ families, roving musicians, lit candles and Chilean flags making the barren landscape seem festive.

The miners’ ordeal may have just begun: Rescuers say it could take four months — until around Christmas — to get them out.

The men already have been trapped underground longer than all but a few miners rescued in recent history. Last year, three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China, and two miners in northeast China were rescued after 23 days in 1983. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks.

The miners’ survival after 17 days is very unusual, but now that they’ve made it this far, they should emerge OK, a leading U.S. mine safety expert said.

“The health risks in a copper and gold mine are pretty small if you have air, food and water,” said Davitt McAteer, who was assistant secretary for mine safety and health at the U.S. Department of Labor.