NEW YORK: Three detainees at the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, tried to conceal themselves in their cells — behind laundry and through other means — to prevent guards from seeing them commit suicide, a US official said in an interview with the New York Times on Monday.

One of the prisoners hanged himself behind laundry drying from the ceiling of the cell, and had arranged his bed to make it look as if he was still sleeping, the official, Lt Cmdr Robert T. Durand of the Navy told the newspaper.

The other two detainees who committed suicide also took steps to prevent guards from seeing that they had put nooses around their necks, the Times said.

The newspaper said that the deception by the prisoners raised questions about how long it took military guards to discover the bodies.

Regulations at Guantanamo Bay provide that guards check on each inmate every two minutes.

Military officials told the newspaper one focus of an investigation into the suicides would be the need for procedural changes, like barring prisoners from doing laundry in their cells.