BY JERRY BERRIOS

Two men and a woman who reportedly left Cuba nearly a week ago on a makeshift inner tube raft were plucked from rough, wind-whipped waters today off the shore of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The survivors, who were rushed to Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale where they now remain, say five of their fellow countrymen never made it to shore and likely drowned at sea, according to BSO.

The first call came in to BSO communications this morning at 11:43, a report of people in the water clinging to rafts several hundred yards offshore. The first BSO unit arrived two minutes later and more calls for assistance went out. Within minutes, more first responders flooded the area and television news helicopters joined choppers from BSO and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Lt. Tony Russell of the Coast Guard said the agency is searching for five migrants and the conditions -- including high waves and wind -- are making it very difficult. The Coast Guard is searching from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. They're looking north, following the Gulf Stream currents, Russell said.

''We have not found any other migrants or any other rafts,'' Russell said.

The Coast Guard had one jet, one helicopter, several boats from Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale, and an 87-foot cutter looking for the bodies, Russell said.

Right now, there are 10 to 12 foot waves and the wind is 20 to 25 knots, Russell said.

At 12:31 p.m., TV cameras captured the images as 38-year old Carlos Lazaro Bringier-Hernandez and 30-year old William Villiavecencio-Perez were pulled from the ocean and dragged on shore to waiting ambulances, BSO said.

Moments later, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue diver slid down a line from a hovering helicopter and plucked 37-year old Milena Isabel Gonzalez-Martinez from the choppy seas. All three survivors were rushed to Holy Cross Hospital. Their conditions are not known at this time.

According to BSO detectives who interviewed the survivors, a party of eight -- seven men and one woman -- left Jibacoa, Cuba on or about the night of March 17, BSO said.

They said that two of the men succumbed to the elements and were lost about two to three days into the trip. Last night, Villiavecencio-Perez, Bringier-Hernandez and another man cut loose from the party and tried to make it shore. Villiavecencio-Perez, Bringier-Hernandez survived, but the third man with them did not. Two men, who had been on a raft with Gonzalez-Martinez, were apparently lost at sea Wednesday night, according to BSO.

The rescue effort involved deputies from several Broward Sheriff's Office districts, BSO Fire Rescue Services, the U.S. Coast Guard, BSO Aviation, BSO Mounted, and resources from Fort Lauderdale.

Upon the survivors' release from the hospital, the U.S. Border Patrol will likely process them, BSO said.

Lilian Garcia, 33, an assistant manager at Villas by the Sea hotel, said she saw a commotion on the beach earlier today, and went to see what was happening.

She saw the two men, floating in inner tubes that she said looked more like truck tires. ''At that moment, I started praying for them,'' she said.

One of the men appeared exhausted, but the other was trying to swim to shore. Garcia said she told two bystanders to go help them, and they plunged into the sea, joining the effort to help the two onto the beach, just north of the fishing pier near Commercial Boulevard.

''The police didn't want us to touch them, but I didn't care,'' Garcia said.

One of the men, Bringier-Hernandez, appeared to be all right. ''He kept saying to me he wanted to eat, he wanted water,'' Garcia said. He told her the group had been at sea for eight days.

''This was a dangerous situation given the rough seas,'' said Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Ross.