(Newser) – It was starting to look hopeless. A 12-year-old boy skiing in the French Alps had been swept away by an avalanche and buried under the snow—and he had no beacon to let rescuers know where, reports the AFP. That's when a sniffer dog came to the rescue, finding the boy after 40 minutes. “It’s a miracle because he had no victim-detection device," says a member of the rescue team. "The chances of survival are minuscule after 15 minutes under the snow." The boy suffered a broken leg but was said to be otherwise OK. He had been skiing with his family in the La Plagne area, say police in the town of Bourg Saint-Maurice, per the AP. (Another against-the-odds rescue took place at sea.)