By SHANNON O'BOYE & RAY LYNCH

LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA – Two men in inner tube rafts were pulled from the pounding surf by bystanders while a woman was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew farther out at sea Thursday afternoon.

Petty Officer Anastasia Burns, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said the three migrants made the very dangerous voyage from Cuba on rough seas.

"This is exactly what we don't want to happen," she said.

The woman pulled from the inner tube was later interviewed at a Broward hospital by the Coast Guard, who used a Spanish-speaking Fort Lauderdale firefighter/paramedic to translate, Fire Rescue Division Chief Stephen McInerny said.

The woman said she left Cuba along with seven men on a group of inner tube rafts on March 17th. She said at least five of the men were lost at sea, McInerny said.

The Coast Guard later said the woman told them two of the migrants died Tuesday and two more on Wednesday. She did not know what happened to the fifth migrant.

The dramatic noon hour rescues were caught on videotape north of the fishing pier by most of the area television stations and broadcast live across South Florida during the noon news.

One of the men said the rafters had been at sea for at least eight days.

TV shots showed the two men in an inner-tube raft close to shore around Commercial Boulevard and A1A. When they were near shore they got off the rafts and attempted to wade to shore. But both seemed to collapse in the heavy surf.

Jerry McIntee, a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea firefighter, said two beachgoers plunged into the water after one of the migrants and were joined by a firefighter, who was still wearing his boots. They all battled ``an undertow that would pull your clothes off,'' McIntee said.

Nearly simultaneously, a second migrant ``was dragged up on the beach -- sort of on his own power and sort of assisted by some beachgoers,'' Deputy Chief Mark Conn of the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Fire Department said.

One group of beachgoers picked up one of the migrants and carried him to arriving Fire-Rescue. The emergency workers immediately began rehydrating and treating the men. The two rafters were taken to Holy Cross Hospital in nearby Fort Lauderdale. The Coast Guard said they were under the jurisdiction of the Broward Sheriff's Office. They were later identified as Carlos Lazaro Bringier-Hernandez, 38, and William Villiavecencio-Perez, 30, both of Cuba.

On the beach, rescue officials found two black inner tubes with pieces of plastic foam attached to them and a 5-foot splintered wooden oar. A crowd of about 100 people gathered on the beach during the rescue.

About 200 yards offshore and almost a mile away, a second raft, made of four or five inner tubes tied together, could be seen with a woman lying on her back waving feebly as a Coast Guard helicopter moved in with a rescue swimmer.

The rescue swimmer went into the water and helped the woman out of the inner tubes, then into a metal basket that was lowered into the water. The helicopter then winched her up to safety. She was taken to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, and was eventually taken by ambulance to Holy Cross Hospital. She was originally to be taken to North Ridge Medical Center, but that was changed when authorities decided they wanted all three migrants in the same place. She was later identified as Milena Isabel Gonzalez-Martinez, 37, also of Cuba.

All three were ordered hospitalized. All three apparently went through at least several days days of stiff winds, cool weather, and high seas -- and the accompanying seasickness -- and the loss of their companions before making land.

Waves on the beach in that area were 6 to 8 feet on Thursday afternoon. The National Weather Service said winds in the area were measured at 23 mph, with gusts reaching 34 mph.

Two Coast Guard vessels were sent to the scene and another boat was en route, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

Coast Guard Lt. Tony Russell said officials will continue searching for other migrants who may have tried to make the difficult voyage in makeshift rafts. That search was spreading as far north as West Palm Beach.

``Trying to make it to the U.S. in this type of vessel is a recipe for disaster,'' Russell said.