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A 12-year-old boy has been found alive after being buried under an avalanche in the French Alps for 40 minutes.

The child, who has not been named, was skiing with his family in La Plagne and was hit by the avalanche after leaving a supervised run.

He was later found with help from a sniffer dog brought in by local police.

"It's a miracle because [the boy] had no victim-detection device," one of the rescuers told AFP.

"The chances of survival are minuscule after 15 minutes under the snow."

The boy, who suffered only a broken leg, is being treated at a local hospital.