TIJUANA, Mexico, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A blast at the Mexican film studio where the movie "Titanic" was made killed a soldier on Wednesday after explosive material used in film stunts was mishandled while being moved, police said.

Baja Studios, near the border with California and built in 1996 by Twentieth Century Fox to film the Oscar-winning film, was clouded in ash and smoke and surrounded by soldiers and police following the explosion.

Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp, sold the 46-acre (19-hectare) complex in May to Baja Acquisitions, a group of private investors. Blockbusters "Pearl Harbor" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" were also shot there.

"For some reason the powder was not handled correctly and it exploded, causing a bang heard for miles around," said Jorge Eduardo Montano, police chief of the coastal city of Rosarito where the studios are located.

Five people were also injured in the blast. No one at Baja Studios was immediately available for comment.

According to local civil protection agency, Baja Studios' executives asked the Mexican military to remove the stunt explosives from the studios where they had been in storage.

One soldier was wounded in addition to the one killed. Four studio workers were also hurt.

Lower operating costs and ample space have attracted U.S. filmmakers to Mexico in recent years, with Baja Studios luring makers of maritime films because of its huge filming tanks. (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, editing by Eric Walsh)

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