Red Cross leaders have sacked a callous paramedic who was apparently caught on camera stealing from the purse of a dead woman.

The shocking footage from the victim's home CCTV shows the ambulance worker searching the woman’s handbag moments after she had died on February 11.

Victim Maria de Jesus Cardenas Castillo can be seen slumped at a kitchen table with a meal half eaten in front of her in her home in the municipality of Tijuana, Mexico.

But after a colleague leaves the room, paramedic Pablo Rivera appears to slip his hand into Maria's purse and pulls out what was reported to be a wad of banknotes.

The footage appears to show him wrapping the cash in one of his latex gloves and then stuffing it in his pocket. Local media reported that Rivera allegedly stole $3,600 (MXN 45,000).

The victim’s daughter said the cash would have been spent on her mother's funeral costs. The victim's family reportedly installed the camera to monitor her increasingly worsening condition.

One of her sons - Mario Gallegos Cardenas - said the Red Cross turned down a demand for compensation.

"It's just sad. How can such a thing happen? Aren't they meant to protect the community?” he said.

The victim's family decided to release the footage on social media after the charity rejected their appeals.

Mexicans vented their anger online. One social media user suggested renaming the organisation 'Cruz Roba', or ‘Steal Cross’ in English.

Another claimed the video "will make you think twice before donating any money."

"This is their daily routine. The only difference is that one of them has been caught on camera,” another Twitter user said.

The Red Cross department of Tijuana said they sacked Rivera and reported him to the police.

"On behalf of our institution, we regret the events that occurred in relation to a video circulating on social networks in which one of our paramedics is involved,” The Red Cross department of Tijuana said in a statement obtained by Newsflash.

"We deeply regret this fact and we condemn any action of this nature that is contrary to our humanitarian principles and hinders our objectives of helping and protecting those who find themselves in situations of vulnerability."

Newsflash/Australscope

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