Boston bomb suspect kept in steel-doored small cell

The Boston Marathon bombing suspect is being held in a small cell with a steel door at a federal medical detention centre about 65 km outside the city, a federal official said.

The Boston Marathon bombing suspect is being held in a small cell with a steel door at a federal medical detention center about 65 km outside the city, a federal official said.

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Federal Medical Centre Devens spokesman on Saturday John Collauti described the conditions under which 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was being held in the Ayer facility after being moved there from a hospital.

Tsarnaev was injured during a police chase on Thursday in which his brother, also a suspect in the bombing, was fatally wounded.

Collauti said in a telephone interview that Tsarnaev is in secure housing where authorities can monitor him. His cell has a solid steel door with an observation window and a slot for passing food and medication.

Collauti wouldn't discuss specific details related to Tsarnaev, but said that typically medical workers making rounds each shift monitor the inmates. He said guards also keep an eye on some cells with video cameras.

Also, inmates in the more restrictive section do not have access to TVs or radios, but can read books and other materials, he said.

"Really this type of facility is fully capable of handling him and it's not that much of an inconvenience because it's more or less business as usual," Collauti said.

Tsarnaev's mother said the bombing allegations against her son are lies.