Infrared technology has been used to find an 11-year-old boy, lost in pitch-black darkness and dense bushland in Victoria’s Otway Ranges.

The youngster was separated from five family members during a fishing expedition and spent about six hours alone late on Wednesday until being found uninjured at 10.30pm after his location was pinpointed by a police helicopter.

An 11-year-old boy has been rescued by Air Wing overnight after becoming lost in dense bushland in the Otway Ranges last night.

Air Wing officers located the Colac boy uninjured about 10.30pm in the vicinity of Westwicks Road.

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“The Air Wing located the boy in pitch black conditions amongst trees and mountains using night vision and forward looking infrared equipment,” Inspector Craig Shepherd said, highlighting the search as a prime example of the technology’s capabilities.

“It had been approaching seven hours that this young boy had been separated from his family and this situation could have potentially ended very differently.”

The boy, from Colac, was found near Westwicks Road after a search which included search and rescue crews on foot and riding motorbikes.